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[Lai(SCHlE¥DA [^o(SA^FDEL©o 



I 



LIFE 



President Garfield. 



THE COMPLETE RECORD OF A WONDERFUL CAREER, WHICH, BY 
NATIVE ENERGY AND UNTIRING INDUSTRY, LED ITS 
HERO FROM OBSCURITY TO THE FOREMOST 
POSITION IN THE AMER- 
ICAN NATION. 

By Wm. Ralston Balch, 

Editor of "The American" '^ Words qf Garfield^ etc. 



THK WHOLE HAVING BEEN CAREFULLY READ AND CORRECTED 
HV AN ACCOMPLISHED SCHOLAR AND FRIEND OF GENERAL 
GARFIELD, AND INCLUDING AN EXCEEDINGLY INTER- 
ESTING CHAPTER BY MISS DR. EDSON, CHIEF 
NURSE TO THE PRESIDENT DURING 
HIS SUFFERINGS. 



PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED.,,,---^ 



( 



Wh-:\i 133: 

>>^ No.y.(S.4V 



HUBBARD BROS., Publishers: 

Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Kansas City 

C. R. Blackall & Co., New York. John Burns, St. Louis. 

A, L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco. 



Copyrighted iSSi, 



TO 
THE MEMORY OF 

JAMES A. GARFIELD, 

THIS VOLUME, 

KVmcH DOES BUT SCANT JUSTICE TO A NOBLE THEME, IS INSCRIBED IN 
FULL ADMIRATION OF ITS HERO, BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. 

Lives of great men are worthy of attentive study. Espe- 
cially is this true of the great men of our own age and land. 
The lives of such, illustrate the great principles of success, 
not as operative in distant times and places, but as operative 
at our own doors and amid our own surroundings. These 
lives show what may be done among us, in short, what we 
ourselves may do. 

There are a very few lives that are illustrious in more than 
a few respects. Occasionally one, like a well cut diamond, 
flashes light from innumerable sides. Such is the life of our 
late President, James A. Garfield, and his illustrious life was 
lived m our very presence. 

Garfield began his career in obscurity and poverty. He 
had a noble mother, a good constitution, a superior mind, a 
brave heart, a pure conscience, and an unswerving will. By 
a conscientious and diligent use of these, he rose from the 
laborious, manual toil of a farm-hand, a boatman, and a 
carpenter, to the more congenial, though not less arduous, 
pursuits of student, teacher. College President, military 
leader. Congressman, Statesman, President. 

His short service as Chief Magistrate of this nation, and 
the sad scenes of his last days, endeared him to all true hearts. 
Garfield became the nation's idol, and he is a rare model for 
the nation's contemplation. 

To set forth this wonderful life-story faithfully, clearly 
and comprehensively, has been the aim in the production of 
this volume. 



CONTENTS. 



GARFIELD AS A BOY AND A, MAN. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGB. 

A Fire and its result — His Father's Death — His Mother's Lineage — 
His Father's Lineage — The Bereaved Family, 27 

CHAPTER II. 

The Home in Early Days — Early Struggles — Autumnal Sports, . . 38 

CHAPTER III. 

Days of Earnest Work — Boyish Pranks — Haying, 45 

CHAPTER IV. 

" The Pirate's Own Book" — Piratical Aspirations — Wants to be a 
Sailor — Rejected and Accepted — Life on the Canal — Narrow Es- 
cape — Again at Home, ..,•• 51 

CHAPTER V. 

Inter Folia Fructus, "Fruit amid the Leaves" — At Geauga Seminary 
— Working his Way — Teaching School — His Church — Studying at 
Hiram — Preparing for College — Williams College Chosen, ... 69 

(xi) 



xii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 



PAGE. 



Garfield at Williams — His College Work — Literary Contributions — 
College Editor— "The Province of History"— A Tempting Offer — 
President Hopkins on Garfield— His College Classmates— Letters 
from Classmates — College Reminiscences, 84 

CHAPTER Vn. 

President of Hiram College— A Friend and Counselor— Described 
by a Pupil — His Preaching — Lucretia Rudolph — Mrs. Garfield as 
a Student, "6 

CHAPTER Vni. 

The Birth of a Political Career — In the State Legislature — Increasing 
Popularity — Oration at Ravenna, 130 



GARFIELD AS A SOLDIER. 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Storm Bursts — Opening of the War — Garfield's Position — Pro- 
curing Arms — Dissolution to be Resisted, 141 

CHAPTER X. 

At the Head of a Regiment — Enlisted for the War — The Situation — 
His First Task — Commanding a Brigade, 150 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Big Sandy Campaign — Sending Dispatches — Opening the Cam- 
paign — An Old Associate — On the March — Forward it Is — Deter- 
mined to Fight — Eve of Battle, 159 



CONTENTS. xiii 

CHAPTER XII. 

PAGB. 

The Battle of Middle Creek— The Heat of Contest— Hand to Hand— 
The Crisis — Victory, 177 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Pound Gap — The Troops Congratulated — Piloting a Steamer — Fos- 
tering Union Sentiments — A Rebel Nest — Plan against Pound Gap 
Securing a Guide — Opening the Fight — Officially Commended, . . 190 

CHAPTER XIV, 

Off to aid Grant — Pittsburgh Landing — Building Bridges — Services 
Appreciated — New Appointment — Aptness at Duty, ...... 207 

CHAPTER XV. 

Garfield as Chief of Staff — New Difficulties — Urging an Advance — 
One to Seventeen — The Tullahoma Compaign — An Apprehended 
Insurrection, 218 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Operations at Chattanooga — Battle of Chickamauga — Disaster at 
Chickamauga — His famous Ride — The Last Shots — ^Just Praise — 
Resigning his Commission — Protecting Fugitive Slaves — A Kind 
Officer — A Skirmish, 229 



GARFIELD AS A STATESMAN. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Nominated for Congress — Appearance in Congress — Readiness in 
Debate 257 



xiv CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

FACE. 

The Ladder of Honor— Independent Speaking— Before the Supreme 
Court— His Term— Vindicated — Credit Mobilier — Under Trials — 
Again Re-elected — Chosen to the Senate — Ben Wade's Advice — 
Noble Words — Braving Public Sentiment, 264 

CHAPTER XIX. 

An Ornament of Congress — Characteristics in Congress — Political 
Spoils — National Perils, 286 

CHAPTER XX. 

The Orator's Power — A Popular Frenzy — Speech-Making — Literary 
Addresses — Love of Reading — Economy of Time — A Latin Critic — 
Classical Reading — Classical Discussion — A Cordial Friend, . . . 292 

- ^ . . « . • -CHAPTER XXI. 

Questions of Political Economy — The Greenback — Sound Money — 
Opinions on the Tariff — Votes on the Tariff — Speeches on the Tariff, 310 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Arraigning his Enemies — Against Treason— Answer to Lamar — 
Against Unlimited Coinage — Against State Sovereignty — The 
Chinese Question — Letters from Garfield, 321 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

A Visit to Lawnfield — Mentor— Garfield's Home — Occupations on the 
Farm — His Genius for Labor — Diversity of Labor — Extensive 
Reading, . •♦.«.«.»; i 4 »; ... . 344 



CONTENTS. x% 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

FACE. 

The Family Circles-Accumulating Facts — Mrs. Garfield — The Chil- 
dren — Garfield's Mother — Social Converse, 361 

' CHAPTER XXV. 

Two Pen Portraits — Sketches of Garfield — Self-approbation, .... 373 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Preparing for the Battle — Candidates for the Presidency — Delegations 
in Revolt, 378 

. . _ CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Battle Begun — Gathering of the Convention — The Chairman, . . 383 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The Second Day's Contest — Pennanent Organization — Getting to 
Work — Death of the Unit Rule, 389 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Continuation of the Struggle — Independent Action — Rules and Cre- 
dentials — Delegates Approved — A Brilliant Scene — Enthusiasm 
Rising 396 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Thunders of Oratorj' — Delegates Enrolled — Rules Adopted — 
Blaine in Nomination — Grant in Nomination — Wild Enthusiasm — 
Garfield's Speech— Sherman in Nomination — Comments on Garfield, 406 



xvi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

FAGBi 

A Day of Doubt — Pen Portraits — Balloting 425 

CHAPTER XXXn. 

The People's Choice— Garfield's Protest—" The Battle-cry of Free- 
dom" — Confirmed Unanimously — Arthur Nominated, 431 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

How it Happened, and Whafwas Said of It — Going Over to Garfield 
— Rejoicings — Comments of the Press — Rejoicing at Williams Col- 
lege — Phrenological Marks, , 441 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

A Tour of Triumph — Congratulations — Reception at Hiram — Speech 
at Washington — Address at Painesville — Letter of Acceptance, . 454 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

The March to Victory — Conference in New York — Address in New 
York — The Crisis at Hand, 471 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

The Interim and Inauguration — After the Election — En Route to 
Washington — The Inaugural Procession — Inaugural Ceremonies — 
Inaugural Address— Inauguration Festivities, 479 



CONTENTS. xvii 

GARFIELD AS PRESIDENT. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

The Early Days of Garfield's Administration — Appointments — Op- 
posing Nominations — The Conkling Fight — Civil Service Reform — 
Conkling's Defeat, 499 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

A Time of Trial — The Second of July — The Fatal Shot — Removed 
to the ^Vhite House — Critical Condition — The First Announce- 
ment, 510 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Hours of Suffering — Plan of Room — A Cheery Patient — The Night 
Watches — Fourth of July — Relapse — Surgical Operation — Cooling 
the Room — A Wife's Devotion, 525 

CHAPTER XL. 

The World Without — Expressions of Sympathy — Letters of Condo- 
lence — The Bench and Pulpit, 544 

CHAPTER XLI. 

The Miscreant — Guiteau's Story — Corkhill's Statement 55 1 

CHAPTER XLII. 

The Valley of the Shadow of Death — Another Operation — Between 
Life and Death — Removal from Washington — At Long Branch — 
The Last Hours — The Sad News — The Successor Sworn In, . . 560 



xvlil CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

The Funeral Ceremonies-The Start From Elberon-Arrival at 
Washington-Carried to the Capitol-Services at the Capitol-An 
August Assemblage-Moving Westward-Arrival in Cleveland- 
The Catafalque— Final Services— The Funeral Procession, ... 581 

Burial of President Garfield, 

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 

The Sickness and Nursing of President Garfield, with many In- 
teresting Incidents never before given to the Public, 612 

621 

To America, 



LISP OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE, 

President Garfield. (Steel.) Frontispiece. 

The President's Wife. (Steel.) Frontispiece. ^ 

Home of Garfield's ChildKood, 39 ■ 

Garfield at the Age of Sixteen, 55 ■ 

Garfield on the Tow-Path, 62 • 

Hiram College, 117- 

Flat-Boat Transporting Troops, 164 - 

The Fight at Paintvillc, 169 - 

View of Middle Creek, . . .• 175 

Battle of Middle Creek, 179 

View of Pound Gap, 196 

Pickets on Duty, 203 ^ 

Pittsburgh Landing, 208 

Army Head-Quarters, 213 

Gen, George H, Thomas, 221 * 

Redoubt on Lookout Mountain, 230 . 

The Battle of Chickamauga, 233 v 

Chattanooga Battle-field and Approaches, 237 ^ 

Mission Ridge, 243 . 

Battle-Field as it Appears To-day, 245 

Hall of Representatives, 259 v 

Senate Chamber, 281 

Garfield's Home at Mentor, 343 '- 

(xix) 



XX LIST OF ILL USTRA TIONS. 

Parlor of Garfield's Home, 347 ' 

Dining-Room of Garfield's Home, 351' 

Harry Garfield, 3^6 

James Garfield, 3^7 " 

Mollie Garfield, t 368 ■ 

" Grandma " Garfield, (Steel), 371 ' 

Reception of General Garfield at Cleveland, . . - .457 

Garfield Addressing the People, 461 

The National Capitol, ^ 486 '^ 

Marble Corridor of the Capitol, 489 

President Garfield's Cabinet, 498 ■ 

Assassination of President Garfield, 513' 

Surgeons in Charge of President Garfield, , . • . 519 ■ 

By the Bedside of the Suffering President, 527 

Plan of President's Sick-Room, 520 

The Assassin in his Cell, . 553 

En Route to Elberon, 567 

Francklyn Cottage and Elberon Hotel, 571 

The Death Scene, ,.,;... 575 v^ 

Lying in State at Washington, 589 -^ 

Lying in State at Cleveland, 6oi •' 

The Catafalque used at Cleveland, 607 - 



^^=^^^:=^^=:^=^ 



GARFIELD -BOY^:^ MAN. 



<ijs=?=S. 



^==f^ 



^29) 



Poverty is uncomfortable, as I can testify ; but nine times 
out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is 
to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim for 
himself. In all my acquaintance I never knew a man to be 
drowned who was worth the saving. 

Garfield's Address to the Students of Hiram College, 



f3o) 



CHAPTER I. 



A FIRE AND ITS RESULT. 



A 



BRAM GARFIELD, worn out with a night 
of bitter toil, bead- drops of perspiration 
standing upon his forehead and coursing 
down his heated, cinder-stained cheeks, walked to 
his home with a weary step. All night long the 
fires had ravished the woods surrounding his little 
homestead, and all night long, assisted by the 
stout arms of his neighbors, he had valiantly 
fought the flames, that threatened his all, twenty 
acres of good wheat growing on the land, which 
he himself had cleared around his cabin. 

The fires were now well down; the trunks of 
unburnt trees stood out against the sky, black- 
ened witnesses of destruction ; and the wind was 
scatterine the ashes hither and thither, as the 
farmers, knowing their scanty crops were saved, 
turned homeward. 

Abram Garfield, an honest, hard-working far- 
mer, had naturally taken pride in his grain, a pride 
he could not afford to see humbled by the agency 
of a vagrant fire in the woods. When it ap 
proached the edge of his fields, he had gone forth 
to the fight, and, after hours of exhausting work, 
succeeded in getting the better of his enemy. 

C . (30 



32 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Reaching his cabin, he sank wearily on a three- 
legged stool that stood by the open door, and 
raised his hat, that he might wipe away the per- 
spiration beading his forehead. With no thought 
but that of rest, he allowed the breezes, that blew 
over his saved wheat fields, to cool his face with 
their Qrrateful breath. 

In this most natural act he contracted a severe 
cold and sore throat, which the over-tension of 
his system laid open to influences that his other- 
wise hardy nature would have easily withstood. 

Chill followed chill, and inflammation set in, be- 
coming rapidly so intense, that his good wife Eliza 
determined to send for the only doctor the county 
boasted, a semi-quack, who lived several miles 
away. The leech promptly came, and with many 
a profound gesture, that Illustrated nothing so 
well as his profound Ignorance, ordered a blister 
for the sick man's throat. It was applied with all 
the instant virulence of quack practice in an un- 
settled country. The treatment was in faith so 
heroic, that Abram Garfield, shortly after the blis- 
ter was applied, choked to death. Feeling that 
the last great act of his life had come, he motion- 
ed his wife to his side, and said, with thick, broken 
utterance: " I am going to leave you, Eliza, I 
have planted four saplings In these woods, and I 
must now leave them to your care." 

Then, taking a last, long look of his litde farm 
as it stretched beyond the window toward the 



HIS FA I'lIER' S DBA TIL ^ ^ 

rising sun, he called his oxen by name, turned up- 
on his side, and expired. 

The poor widow was stunned by the sudden- 
ness of her great misfortune. It had come upon 
her so quickly, that it was impossible to realize, at 
the moment of her husband's passing away, the 
full extent of her loss. Gradually, as the iron en- 
tered her soul, she became aware of her loneliness. 
Bowing her head, she wept bitterly. 

'' Do not cry, my mother, I will take care of 
you," said her son Thomas, a mere slip of a boy, 
who stood by her side, scarcely comprehending 
what he said, or why he said it. 

"God bless you, my son ; I will try to be brave for 
your sweet sake," said the stricken woman, as she 
wound her arms convulsively about the boy. Ris- 
ing, she called two little girls to her side, and ex- 
plained to them their loss — the death of their 
father. Tenderly she lifted them in her arms and 
bade them kiss the cold, calm face for the last 
time. Then from the cradle she lifted the young- 
est, her baby-boy, James, almost two years old, the 
pride of her hearth-stone. The boy looked down, 
wonderingly, out of his great, blue eyes at his 
father's face so still upon the pillow. With a 
childish, questioning look, he lisped, "Papa sleep?" 
The mother's tears, flowing rapidly, were the only 
answer. 

Two days later Abram Garfield was laid to rest, 
and the baby-boy was carried to the funeral in die 
3* 



^A THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

arms of his uncle, William Letcher. The child, 
as was natural in one so young;, paid no attention 
to the sad ceremonies, until he was brought to 
the coffin to take a last look at the dead. Rec- 
opnizinof his father, he called aloud for him, the 
tears following each other rapidly down his face. 
When the earth was thrown upon the coffin, the 
child continued his cries, until the whole company 
.burst into tears. 

Wlio of us, that have passed through such a 
scene, can ever forget it? The agony of a few 
brief moments then, often lives forever. They 
are to the mind what scars are to the body, and 
remain upon us while life lasts, teaching always, 
however, their lesson, just as the rock, when 
rent, discloses the gem, or the little obstacle, that 
impedes the onward progress of the brook, serves 
to make music and purify its water. So with 
Eliza Garfield. The influence of her chastening 
is upon her. It will be to her a softening thought 
and one to nerve her arm; for hers is a heroic 
soul ; she comes from no common mould ; she 
will come forth from the death-chamber, well armed 
for the battle of life. In her veins runs the blood 
of the Puritans, and all the energy, intelligence 
and perseverance of that grand old race are 
mingled in her frame. No danger, that they will fail 
her now ; no danger, that such a woman will not 
succeed ; no danger, that such a mother is not 
fitted to raise a Presidentj! 



HIS MOTHER'S LINEAGE. 



35 



Her lineage will guarantee this anywhere. Let 
us look back a moment at the names, that stand 
sponsors for her courage and devotion. Wlien 
the Edict of Nantes was revoked, Maturin Ballou 
fled to America and took refuge In Cumberland, 
Rhode Island. The fifth in descent from this 
great man was James Ballou, who, after some vi- 
cissitudes, finally found a home at Richmond, New 
Hampshire, and a wife in the person of Mehetabel 
Ingalls, of that place. Eliza, the oldest of their 
four children, was born September 21st, 1801. 
Eight years later, Mrs. Ballou, after the death of 
her husband, moved with her four young children 
to Worcester, Otsego County, New York. At 
the close of the war of 181 2, a removal was again 
thought advisable, once more toward the West. 
Zanesville, Ohio, was selected as the Mecca of 
this pilgrimage, and after the household effects 
had been loaded into heavy carts, the adventurous 
party, of whom Eliza Ballou was one, set out. 
Six weeks were occupied in the journey, and six 
more in settline In the new home. At the ao-e of 
eighteen, Eliza Ballou fell In love with the man, 
whose death we have just described, Abram Gar- 
field. 

His lineage was as strongly marked by all the 
qualities, that made " men" In the brave days of 
old, as was that of the Vv'oman he chose for his 
wife. In the stout, strangely-shaped ship that 



36 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



brought the famous Governor Winthrop to the in- 
hospitable shores of his New England home, to 

" The stern and rock-bound eoast," 

came Edward Garfield, an Englishman, of brave 
heart, who left his birthplace (near Chester, on the 
border of Wales,) for an unknown, untried home 
in the New World. In early days the form and 
pronunciation of this family-name were different 
from those now used. Like all old names, which 
meant something, this in Anglo Saxon signified 
" field-watch." Was this prophetic of the military 
honors, that came to the name of Garfield in la- 
ter years ? An ancient coat of arms, derived 
from Gaerfili Castle, has on the shield a gold 
ground crossed by three red horizontal bars, and 
in the upper dexter corner (left hand looking to- 
ward the shield) on an ermine canton, a red Mal- 
tese cross {croix firmee). The crest consists of 
a helmet with a raised visor, above which is an 
arm with a drawn sword, similar to the familiar 
device on the State-seal of Massachusetts. The 
motto is " III cruce vinco " (In the»cross I con- 
quer). The Maltese cross seems to indicate that 
the bearer had been in the Crusades, and the 
ermine signifies that the coat of arms was con- 
ferred by the king. 

Edward Garfield thought little of this, as he 
landed on the shore of Massachusetts Bay. He 
had come to a country where such heraldic glories 



HIS FATHER'S LINEAGE. 



37 



were of little moment. He settled at Watertown, 
Massachusetts, where he and some of his descen- 
dants lie buried. Solomon Garfield, one of Ed- 
ward Garfield's descendants, soon after the Revo- 
lutionary War, in which the Garfields upheld fully 
the honor of their name, moved with his children, 
one of whom bore the^name of Thomas, to Wor- 
cester, Otsego County, New York. Here Abram 
Garfield was born. 

When the question came up in the quiet of the 
simple family-circle: "What shall we name the 
boy ?" not many minutes' discussion decided, that 
he should be called after his uncle Abram, a man 
who deserved well of his country, for he served it 
well. He was among the foremost of the farmers, 
who, with their rusty rifles, hastened to repulse the 
British assault on Concord Bridge; and he was 
selected, with John Hoar, grandfather of the pres- 
ent Judge Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, as one of 
the witnesses, whose depositions concerning the 
British assault were taken at the request of the 
Continental Congress, that they might show, that 
the British government made the first illegal ag- 
gression, and began the War of Independence. 

The young Garfield, bearing his uncie's worthy 
name, was born in December, 1799. When two 
years old, he lost his father by an attack of small- 
pox ; and the boy henceforth was under the care of 
a mother, who possessed a sufificient measure of 
those sterling virtues, which the women of our 



o3 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Revolution always displayed, to give him a sturdy 
start in life. All his education was obtained at 
the maternal knee; and his constitution became 
hardened and moulded on the broad fields of the 
family-farm. As a boy, rug-g-ed-and sun-tanned, 
he had made the acquaintance of the prlrn^ little 
girl, born in a ISTew England town, Eliza Ballou 
by name, who Interested him not a little, and who 
occupied such of his moments as were given over 
to heart-hopes and heart-troubles. But Eliza 
Ballou moved West, and left Abram Garfield 
alone In his Eastern home. Not long afterwards 
he followed whither his heart prompted ; and In 
the Autumn of 1819 he journeyed westward to 
meet and win his bride. 

The leisure hours of his occupation — a con- 
tractor's work on the Ohio Canal — were agree- 
ably filled with the courtship of Eliza Ballou, 
whom he In due course married. His contractor's 
work over, the canal built, with a fair profit In his 
pocket, he moved to Orange, Cuyahoga County, 
and bought a piece of land. He moved practi- 
cally into the wilderness, for there was but one 
house within seven miles. Life here flowed 
quiedy on, just as in many another Western log- 
cabin. The father managed his farm, and added 
an acre or two of clearing to It every year. The 
mother looked after the cabin-comforts, and did 
what she could to prepare her children for the 
struggle for existence. The father prospered 



THE BE RE A VED FAMIL Y. » I 

fairly. The little country town grew rapidly; 
neighbors gathered on adjacent farms ; and a 
larger, more vigorous life settled upon the little 
place. Everything went well until the outbreak 
of the fire mentioned at the opening of this chap- 
ter. The death of Abram Garfield was the first 
cloud upon a life of successful happiness. ^ 

The children, who ea-thered around their father's 
death-bed on that mid-summer morning, num- 
bered four, the eldest, Mehetabel, bearing her 
ofrandmother's Puritan name ; the second, Thomas, 
called after his uncle ; the third, Mary ; and the 
last, the blue-eyed baby James Abram, born No- 
vember 19th, 1 83 1, and christened for his great- 
uncle soon after. 

It is the life of this boy, James Abram Garfield, 
that is portrayed in the following pages. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE HOME IX EARLY DAYS. 



7^ LIZA GARFIELD had but a sunless 
H prospect before her the morning after her 
-^ husband was buried. A small farm In- 



cumbered with debt, a dense forest only partially 
broken by clearings, a scattered population almost 
as poor as herself, made up her Immediate envi- 
ronment. Putting aside the mistaken but kindly 
meant advice of friends, she said that the house 
should not be broken up, the children should not 
be scattered. Advisers yielded to her will, and 
she had her way. She took up the mantle of her 
husband, and with that brevet rank, which widow- 
hood never falls to confer upon deserving w^omen, 
she made herself thoroughly respected by her 
sterllne force of character and hIo;-h resolve to dare 
and do for the weal of her children. Though small 
of stature, and but thirty years of age, she had the 
abllitv and enerp"v of a larcrer and older woman. 
The farm was to be kept up, the home continued 
as It h.ad been since 1S30, and the "four saplings" 
cared for, until they were ready to be transplanted. 
Then, and not till then, would she give up the 
farm. 

This was a resolve, that presaged a harvest In 
(4^) 



EARL V STRUGGLES. 



43 



Its fruition, For there was nothing strikingly beau- 
tiful in the country where she dwelt ; there was 
nothing remarkably attractive. The soil was not 
noticeably excellent. There were a thousand 
farms that surpassed hers, and she had nothing to 
work with but energy and willingness. She rose 
early and retired late. Her work never sought 
her; she sougrht it. The homestead assumed a 
more homelike appearance each year, as new 
comforts were added by the thrifty woman who 
manacred It. The young orchard, which Abram 
Garfield had planted, grew amazingly; and the 
trees fulfilled the promise of their planting. 
Cherries, apples, plums, and, later, currants, 
proved quite an addition to the frugal fare of 
the family ; and the gathering of these was always 
a delight to the children. Often could young 
James be seen perched on the top of a tree, with 
a pail, picking cherries for his mother to preserve, 
or gathering apples for her to dry. Out-door life 
to the boy, who had already toddled through 
infancy and was now a rousing youngster of eight, 
presented many an attraction, that some children 
never seem to perceive. 

Indian stories, then the liveliest and most vivid 
of all border-reminiscences, were often told in the 
twilight to the boy, who was eager for any news of 
that world, to which his vet unformed fancies had 
carried him, but which he was yet unable to people 
properly or quite understand. He carried his 



,M THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

bright fancies into his play ; and every tree in the 
orchard received at his hands the name of some 
noted author, of whom he had but imperfectly 
heard, and whom he still more imperfectly admired; 
or of some statesman, who had figured in the 
scraps of American history, to which he had lis- 
tened ; or better still of some noted Indian Chief, 
whose deeds had excited his admiration. The 
noblest tree of the orchard, received in the boy's 
estimation the noblest name, Tecumseh. 

As a boy he was always a busy spectator and 
assistant at the various harvest-ceremonies, cider- 
making, apple-gathering for butter, corn-husking, 
and the like. So seldom perhaps has an apple- 
butter-boiling on the border been seen by any of 
our readers, that we may be pardoned readily for 
turning aside a moment to describe one. In those 
days there were no carriages and but very few 
roads. Paths through the forest led from one farm 
to another, and it was only the highways between 
the larger villages, that rose to the dignity of 
township-roads. Everybody rode on horseback, 
and the men generally carried the women behind 
them upon the same horse. In the Fall, when the 
apples were gathered, it was given out far and 
near, that there would be an apple-butter-boiling 
at a certain farm-house, and all the neighbors were 
cordially invited to attend. In the afternoon came 
the older women, who pared the apples and made 
everything ready for the night. Large tubs full of 



AUTUMNAL SPORTS. 



45 



pared, quartered and cored apples stood about the 
kitchen, and a great black kettle was hung in the 
yard. As night approached, youths and maidens, 
some on foot and some on horseback, came from 
miles around. Then the fire under the kettle was 
lighted. The kettle was filled about two-thirds 
full of cider, and a bushel of quartered apples were 
thrown in, as soon as the cider came to a boil. It 
had to be unceasingly stirred with a long-handled 
stirrer, lest it burn. Assisted by a maiden, a young 
man took charge of the kettle ; and standing face 
to face with their hands on the stirrer, they moved 
the apples about in the kettle and chatted of love, 
war, or the gossip of the neighborhood. What 
man, that has ever stirred apple-butter with his 
sweetheart, has forgotten it ? And who of these 
cannot now remember with a thrjll of delight the 
paring-bees, and the fun of counting the apple 
seeds to know if the girl beside you really loved 
you ? And who but recalls the sweet blushes, as 
the tell-tale seeds revealed the hidden secret, the 
agitated flight of the maiden to escape the shock- 
ing public announcement of the discovery? 

The frolics of apple-butter-boiling were hardly 
forgotten before the corn-huskings lightened the 
cool autumn days, and gave to labor wings of 
pleasure. Here young Garfield was in his ele- 
ment, as he assisted everybody in the long line of 
men and women, who, with many a happy jest and 
many a frolic, vigorously applied the shucker to 
4* 



•,5 THE LIFE OF- PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the yielding leaf. Here, again, the youth and the 
maiden were found side by side ; she working as- 
siduously, he less earnestly, though more watch- 
fully, lest some red ear not noticed might lose 
him the privileged kiss. Those were happy 
days, before modern machinery, invading our har- 
vest-fields, shortened our labor, and stole away all 
the sweet privileges, which the custom of decades 
had interwoven with it. But while they lasted 
upon the Orange farm of the Garfields, young 
James took his share of the romping, for he was 
fond of it ; or of the work, of which he was fonder. 
For there was not a lazy bone in his body ; and 
he possessed the full boyish enthusiasm that often 
makes the whole world seem obtainable. 



CHAPTER III. 



DAYS OF EARNEST WORK. 



THE early Spring of 1843 ^^^s the Garfield 
family still humbly prosperous, The poorly 
productive farm yields a subsistence, some- 
what more bountiful, now that the children are all 
able to do work that counts. The elder son works 
the farm with the aid of hired hands ; and James, 
now tweive years of age, is beginning to help. He 
drives in the cattle, carries wood, hoes the pota- 
toes and corn, builds fires, and does tvhatever his 
little hands can find to do. The girls assist their 
mother with her household duties;, and the family, 
though poor, is thoroughly happy. James has ob- 
tained some tools — a saw, a chisel, a gimlet,' and 
a shavinof-knife — and with these he mends the 
chairs, puts latches and hinges on the doors, and is 
so handy (his brother says) that he will " surely be a 
carpenter some day and build houses." 

In Winter the children go to the village-school, 
and rapidly acquire the rudiments of knowledge. 
The mother helps them with their little lessons. 
The district school lasts for a few- months only in 
Winter; and often the weather is so inclement 
that the children cannot go out. Then the mother 
teaches them at home, and reads to them ; and, 

D (47) 



48 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



as the embers crackle and sparkle in the open 
fire-place, diffusing a gentle warmth, the family 
gathers about it, and little heed is paid to the driv- 
ing storm without. At night stories are told, the 
scanty library is over-hauled, and its precious infor- 
mation repeated without end. There is one book, 
which is a source of never-ending comfort, the 
Holy Bible, and from this the mother reads every 
night to her children, selecting those interesting 
Bible stories, which their young minds can com- 
prehend. 

Two of the books were of orreatest interest to 

O 

young James, Weem's "Life of Marion," and 
Grimshaw's " Napoleon." " Mother, read to me 
about that great soldier," he says almost every 
night; and, as the martial deeds of the first man 
of France are recited, the boy's eyes dilate; his 
breast swells ; and once he exclaims enthusiasti- 
cally, " Mother, when I get to be a man, I am go- 
ing to be a soldier." At this the girls laugh 
heartily, and James, chargrined, says, "Well, you 
will see, that I will be a soldier, and whip people 
as Napoleon did." The good-natured and mat- 
ter-of-fact Thomas reminds him, that it is far better 
to be a farmer ; and so the matter drops. 

The litde school, that he attends, is not far 
from his home, and with little effort, he leads the 
boys and girls, who are his class-mates. One 
day, he and his brother are caught whispering, 
and the teacher sends them home. Thomas stays 



BO YISH PRANKS. ^g 

around the school house, hoping that somehow 
he will be forgiven. Jim runs right home and 
then right back again. When he returns, the 
teacher says : " James, I thought I sent you 
home. Didn't I ? 

"Yes, ma'am," says Jim. 

"Well, why didn't you go! 

" I did go, I just got back." The teacher laugh- 
ing, allows him to stay. 

He was very clever at this age ; and not infre- 
quently he would go to Sunday-School with the 
teacher, and sit on the desk, and ask the boys 
Bible questions, such as these : " Who was the 
wisest man ?" " Who was the meekest man ?" 
" Who was in the whale's belly ?" The boys did 
not know. Then Jim's superior knowledge 
would come into play, and he would gravely in- 
form them, always with accuracy. Thus the Win- 
ter passes away, and the Summer comes almost 
too quickly. 

With the opening leaves, the Summer's work 
begins. The manure hauled out and spread 
upon the land, which Is then plowed, made 
mellow b)- harrowing, and prepared for the 
corn. Furrowing out, or marking the earth for 
the corn, is a neat job, and often a boy has tOj^ride 
the horse to keep him straight. The dropping of 
the corn is always done by boys and girls. Witli 
a basket full of kernels on one arm, four grains 
at a time are taken out and put in a hill. Some 



CQ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

take a handful out at a time, and measure out 
four orralns with the thumb and the two front fin- 
gers, letting them slide into the hill. The hills 
must be the same distance apart ; and the drop- 
pers generally walk in the furrow, planting the 
kernels just in front of the big toe, and allowing 
three feet between the hills. The girls and boys 
are bare-footed ; and each one vies with the other 
in planting the hills regularly and with expedition. 
What jolly races we have had along the corn- 
rows to beat the hoers and have time to orather 
the raspberries, that grew in the fence-corners ! 
Each corn-dropper Is followed by a man with a 
hoe, who carefully covers up the seed, and grum- 
bles incessantly, if the kernels are scattered too 
far apart. 

After the corn-planting season comes the stone- 
picking from the land, that is to be mowed. This 
must be done early, before the grass grows so 
high as to conceal the smaller stones. To prop- 
erly cleanse a piece of grass-land from stones is 
no small job ; and often have we seen boys with 
their finger-nails worn Into the quick, and with 
the skin so thin on their fingers, that the blood 
oozed through. In those days, before reapers 
and mowers were known, the smallest stones 
would spoil a scythe, and had to be carefully pick- 
ed up and carried away, or placed in litde heaps, 
around which the men could mow. 

Planting potatoes, cultivating the corn to keep 



. . HAYING. CI 

down the weeds, hoeing potatoes, weeding in the 
garden, milking the cows, and butter-making oc- 
cupied the time, until the grass was grown. Then 
came the hay-making. Who, that has ever lived 
on a farm, will forget the jolly time, when the 
scythes were brought out, and the whet-stones rang 
against their blue-steel blades ? What music was 
sweeter than the song of the mowers? And when 
the hay was turned to dry in the sun, we raked it 
into windrows for the pitchers. Then the wao-on, 
with its wide ladders ; the bright forks with their 
long handles ; the fragrant odor of the grass, as it 
was pitched on the wagon, to be caught in our arms, 
and built into a long, wide, sugar-loaf overhangino- 
the wheels ; the sun shining, the meadow-larks 
singing, and our own little sweetheart adding her 
tender voice, as with nut-brown hands and dis- 
heveled hair she rakes the fragrant hay ! It is 
always the province of a farm-boy to build tbe hay 
on the wagon ; and often the little maid assisted, 
sometimes tramping with naked feet on a hidden 
briar, which caused her to scream gently, and ne- 
cessitated a search for the nasty jagger. 

The haying season is speedily followed by the 
grain-cutting. "The harvest is ripe," is a welcome 
announcement to the husbandman, but not always 
to the farmer's son, for it means " strength, labor and 
sorrow" for him. He must be up at daylight to turn 
the grindstone for the cradle-scythes, and out with 
the lark to brino- in the cows and eet the mornino- 



1-2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

work done, before the harvesters begfm. Then 
follow the reapers and binders, gathering- up the 
sheaves for the shocks, while the sun each hour 
grows hotter and hotter, until the light quivers 
with waves of heat. The brinmnor-out of the ten 
o'clock piece, the carrying of water for the thirsty 
men, and the toiling until the welcome dinner-bell 
rinijs ! How often have we thou^jht that It never 
would ring, and that the great, hot, red sun seemed 
to have been commanded by another Joshua to 
stand still in the sky ! Then the sweet noon-rest 
under the trees, the renewal of labor, the long, hot 
afternoon, with night at last! What farmer-boy 
does not remember these days In his early life ? 

To James Garfield such hfe was pregnant with 
Interest, engendered by duty. He was not an en- 
thusiastic farmer, but he was an enthusiastic helper 
of his mother; and from the time he was able — he 
was always willing — he shouldered his full share 
of all the farm-work, finding his special province 
In the lighter labors of seed-time and harvest, and, 
in the Fall, in "chores" about the barn-house, until 
the Winter's snowy mantle covered the pround, 
and the district school-teacher summoned the boys 
and girls to re-open their neglected books, for an- 
other season. And so the years^ passed until 
1S46. 




CHAPTER IV. 

"the pirate's own book." 

'HERE was a wide difference in tempera- 
ment between the Garfield boys. Tliomas, 
the older brother, quiet and unambitious, 
aspired to nothing more than the honest, regular 
round of a farmer's life. James, the younger, 
was enterprising and ambitious. It is more than 
doubtful, if he ever intended to be a farmer ; and, 
probably, from his earliest years, his brain was 
tenanted with visions of greatness. He had now 
become so expert in the use of tools, that he could, 
while yet a mere boy, make or build almost any- 
thing, and his talent as a carpenter was In constant 
demand. There was hardly a building or enter- 
prise of any kind in the section of Ohio, where he 
lived, but bore some marks of his skill. He had 
a carpenter's bench ; and on this he worked early 
and late, though his labor brought him but small 
financial return. The land on which the Garfields 
lived, was so poor that it yielded them but a scanty 
living ; and James felt the necessity of " working 
out," as it was called, to increase the limited re- 
sources of the family. In the village and among 
the neighbors, early and late, he sought odd jobs 

5 (53) 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

for his dexterous hands, and soon became known 
as the most industrious lad in all Orange. His 
life was a hard one ; but James was patient and 
wiUincr to "labor and wait" for the better times, 
that he knew would come, when he deserved 
them. 

His popularity with the citizens of Orange was 
so great that they often put themselves out to do 
a favor for the youth, who was so firmly resolved 
to become a fully equipped man, and gave him 
employment mornings, evenings and Saturdays. 
In this way he earned enough to clothe and main- 
tain himself, and also help the family a litde. The 
summer vacation afforded him more time for work, 
and added largely to his earnings. He was sober 
and steady, a giant in labor, and never seemed 
even to give himself time for rest. The savings 
of his busy vacations, earned with jack-plane and 
hammer, filled the purse of the lad, whose pre- 
vious supplies of money had been more than 
meaofre. 

From his earliest days, young Garfield had been 
fond of books. Before he could read, he loved to 
listen to what others would tell him, treasuring 
every word that his unpracticed memory could 
recall. When he was able to read, his mental ap- 
petite grew with every hour of his life. What he 
could obtain in the way of literature he devou7'ed, 
not merely read, but re-read and re-read, until 
every word was more than "a twice told tale." 



PIRATICAL ASPIRATIONS. 



55 



Books of adventure, talcs of daring, and lives of 
freebooters seemed to fascinate his mind the most. 
The air of wild freedom and the absence of care, 
with which pirates lived, were very attractive to 
the boy's spirit, which equaled in Its boldness that 
of the most daring freebooter the sea ever knew. 




JAMES A. GARFIELD. 

AT THB ACE OF SIXTEEN, FROM A DAGUEREOTYPE. 

It was perhaps fortunate at this juncture, that 
there were no opportunities for gratifying the 
wild fancies, the black shadows of which he hardly 
eaw. As it was, the " Pirate's Own Book," only 



56 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



firing his ambition did no harm. He saw too that 
this ambition could be gratified only with money 
and upon a larger field of life than opened to 
him in the Cuyahoga wilderness, or was contained 
within the bounds of Orange, 

One day he came to his mother and said : 

" Mother, I have engaged to chop a hundred 
cords of wood for twenty-five dollars." 

" But are you sure you are quite strong enough 
for such an undertaking?" inquired the careful 
woman. 

" Oh, yes," replied James, laughingly, " I shall 
eet through with it somehow." 

He went bravely to work, but soon found that 
he had indeed undertaken a formidable task. His 
pride forbade him to give up. He had said that he 
could do it, and do it he would, let it cost what It 
might. The task was that of a man, and his boy's 
strength began to fail him, before it was half done ; 
but he tolled on day after day. At every stroke 
of the axe he could look up and catch the sun's 
glimmer on the slaty-blue waves of Lake Erie, 
It prompted all the imaginings of his young heart 
so deeply stirred by the " Pirate's Own Book." 
He thought that the lake was the sea ; and al- 
ready he saw himself a bold rover with a gallant 
crew, commanding a staunch, black ship, that, 
proudly carrying the black flag at the peak, floated 
upon Its restless bosom. And when he would lie 
down at night, his day- thoughts turned into 



WANTS TO BE A SAILOR. 



57 



dreams of the sea and its life of wild attractive- 
ness. In his dreams he was ever a sailor. 

When his wood-chopping was done and his 
hundred cords were neatly piled, he went to tlie 
Newbure farmer, for whom he had worked, re- 
ceived the twenty-five dollars, and carried them 
straight to his mother. ]\Irs. Garfield looked at 
the pale boy, but, though proud of his manly 
achievements, she saw, with some apprehension, 
that he had over-tasked himself. She softly re- 
monstrated with his ardor, urging caution for the 
future. It was precisely this future that was on 
the boy's mind ; and still strong in his sailor-fan- 
cies, he had come to speak about this. 

" Mother, I want to be a sailor, and I am going 
to sea," said he abruptly, 

Mrs. Garfield turned pale, for she knew too 
well, alas ! that this meant a separation for years, 
and, perhaps forever, from her son. 

" Nay, James," she replied gently ; " why not 
be content with us at home ? The sea is a hard 
life, and I fear that I could not part with you just 
yet. The haying season is at hand, and your 
brother will need your assistance on the farm, I 
pray you give up this sea-faring idea for the pres- 
ent." 

James said not a word, but resumed his farm 

work. He assisted in the hay-fields and the gath- 

erinor of the harvest ; but, when the work was all 

done, he went again to his mother, and announced 

5* 



58 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



to her, that he could no longer restrain his desire 
for a life on the wave. He had resolved to de- 
part immediately. Then he packed a few clothes 
in a bundle ; and, placing them on a stick across 
his shoulder, like all the boys in pictures he had 
ever seen, he set out on foot for Cleveland. Amid 
prayers and forebodings, the poor mother had 
bidden him good-bye ; and he carried with him 
her kiss and her blessing, as his only fortune. 

He plodded along cheerfully. His heart ney:er 
failed him ; his courage never sank. He was al- 
ways in good spirits. After a tramp of several 
days, he reached Cleveland, and at once sought 
the harbor, that paradise, wherein he believed that 
he should find a career of indescribable happi- 
ness. There was but one ship in port. This he 
boarded, and not without some trepidation in- 
quired for the captain. 

His idea of a ship's captain had been formed 
from his reading, and then gilded with the honest 
o-oodness of his own nature. He imamned that 
any man, who was good enough and great enough 
to command a ship, must, at least, be a dashing, 
brave and gallant fellow, capable, when occasion 
required, of performing desperate deeds, but dis- 
posed to be, as a general thing, generous to a fault. 
To his question, where he could see the captain, a 
deck-hand replied : " The cap'n 's below ; he'll be 
up soon." Garfield, somewhat disturbed, waited 
the fulfillment of the deck-hand's information. The 



REJECTED AND ACCEPTED. 



39 



" cap'n " announced his coming with volley after 
volley of oaths, that would have done no disgrace 
to " our army in Flanders." A second after the 
oaths he came on deck, and greeted the astonished 
youth. 

"What do you want hyar?" he rolled out in 
ofruffest thunder. 

" I would like to ship as a hand on board your 
vessel," promptly replied our hero, as he recollected 
his errand. The "cap'n's" only answer was a re- 
newed volley of oaths, fired directly at him instead 
of into space, and followed by a suppressed titter 
from the men. Hurt, shocked and stunned, young 
Garfield left the vessel. 

Once on shore, he sat down to consider his 
plans, and resolve on his next move. The sea 
after all did not seem quite as blue and quite as 
attractive, as earlier In the day. He went back to 
the city. As he strolled on, his philosophic mind 
reasoning on his situation, he chanced upon the 
canal. "As the canal is to the lake, so is the lake 
to the sea. I will cro to work on the canal and 
learn there first." 

Armed with this new resolve, which now seemed 
to be reinforced with all the love and ambition he 
had originally felt for his sea-faring project, he 
sought out a canal-boat. The Evening Star, 
Captain Amos Letcher, was tied to the bank. 
Stepping on board, he asked to see the captain. 
r lAmos Letcher looked into the boy's frank, open 



6o 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



countenance and his bright blue eye, and was men- 
tally prepossessed in his favor. Letcher is still 
living, and recalls his boy-driver to-day in the fol- 
lowing fashion : 

" There was nothing prepossessing about him at that time, 
any more than he had a free, open countenance. He had no 
bad habits, was truthful, and a boy that every one would 
trust on becoming acquainted with him. He came to me in 
the summer of 1847, when I was Captain of the Evening 
Star, and half owner — B. H. Fisher, now Judge Fisher, of 
Wichita, Kansas,^ being my partner. Early one morning, 
while discharging a cargo, Jim Garfield tapped me on the 
shoulder and said ; ' Hello, Ame, what are you doing here ? ' 
'You see what I'm doing. What are you doing here?' 
'Hunting work.' 'What kind of work do you want?' 
'Anything to make a living. I came here to ship on the 
lake, but they bluffed me off, and called me a country green- 
horn.' 'You'd better try your hand on smaller waters first ; 
you'd better get so you can drive a horse and tie a tow-line. I 
should like to have you work for me, but I've nothing better 
than a driver's berth, and suppose 5^ou would not like to work 
for twelve dollars a month ? ' ' I have got to do something, and, 
if that is the best you can do, I will take the team.' 'All 
right, I will give you a better position as soon as a vacancy 
occurs.' I called my other driver, and said, ' Ikey, go and 
show Jim his team.' Just as they were going to start, Jim 
asked, 'Is it a good team?' 'As good as is on the canal.' 
' What are their names ? ' ' Kit and Nance.' Soon after we 
were in the 'eleven-mile lock,' and I thought I'd sound Jim 
on education — in the rudiments of geography, arithmetic and 
grammar. For I was just green enough those days to in:a- 
gine that I knew it all. I had been teaching school for three 
winters in the backwoods of Steuben County, Ind. So, I 
asked him several questions, and he answered them all; and 
then he asked me several that I could not answer. I told 
him he had too good a head to be a common canal-hand. 



LIFE OiV THE CANAL. 5j 

" As we were approaching the twenty-one locks of Akron, 
I sent my bowsman to make the first lock ready. Just as he 
got there, the bowsman from a boat above made his appear- 
ance, and said : ' Don't turn this lock, our boat is just 
round the bend, ready to enter.' My man objected, and 
began turning the gate. By this time, both boats were near 
the lock, and their headlights made it almost as bright as 
day. Every man from both boats was on hand ready for a 
field-fight. I motioned my bowsman to come to me. Said 
I : 'Were we here first?' ' It's hard telling, but we'll have 
the lock anyhow.' ' All right, just as you say.' Jim Gar- 
field tapped me on the shoulder, and asked : ' Does that 
lock belong to us?' ' I suppose, accordirg to law, it does 
not. r>v;t we will have it anyhow.' ' No, we will not.' 

* Why ?' said I. ' Why?' with a look of indignation I shall 
never forget, ' v/hy,' because it don't belong to us.' Said I : 

* Boys, let them have it.' 

*' Next morning, one of the hands accused Jim of being a 
coward, because he would not fight for his rights. Said I : 
'Boys, don't be hard on Jim. I was mad last night, but I 
have got over it. Jim may be a coward for aught I know, 
but if he is, he is the first one of tlie name that I ever knew 
that was. His father was no coward. He helped dig this 
canal, and weighed over two hundred pounds, and could 
take a barrel of whisky by the chime and drink out of the 
bunghole and no man dared call him a coward. You'll alter 
your mind about Jim, before Fall.' 

" The next trip, Jim was bowsman. Before we got to 
Beaver — we were bound for Pittsburgh — the boys all liked 
him first-rate. Before we got back to Cleveland, Jim had 
the ague. He left my boat at the eleven-mile lock, and 
struck across country to his home." 

On this first trip, he had his first fight. He was 
holding his "setting-pole" against his shoulder. 
Dave, a hand, was standing a short distance away, 



62 



TJIE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD, 



when the boat made a sudden lunge, and the pole 
slipped from the young man's shoulder and flew 
with terrible force toward Dave. A loud call, 
"Look out Dave!" was not in time to warn him, 
and he was struck a painful blow on the ribs. 
Furiously enraged, he threatened to thrash the 
offender within an inch of his life, and with his 
head down, rushed like a mad bull at Garfield. 
The latter took in the situation at a glance, and, 
stepping aside, he awaited Dave's approach with 
quiet confidence. When he was close, he dealt 
him a terrible blow under the ear, that felled him 
to the deck. In an instant he was upon him, and 
raised his clinched fists to strike. "Pound him, 

him!" called out Captain Letcher; " if I 

Interfere. A man who'll git mad at an accident 
orto be thrashed." Jim didn't strike. He saw 
that his antagonist was helpless and he let him up. 
Dave and he arose, shook hands, and were ever 
after fast friends. This fight was, however, only 
preliminary to many others during his three months 
on the tow-path, as the canal-boys constantly un- 
dertook to bully him, and it was necessary to re- 
mind them most effectually, by virtue of his 
toughened muscles, that he would not be bullied. 
Such was his disposition, capacity, and attention 
to duty, that at the completion of the first round- 
trip he had learned all that was to be learned on 
the tow-path. He was promptly promoted from 




IIUUIUilUluiillililklllUIIIliilillillliullllilUIIIIIUIIUUlillUilliilllUlillUIUlUlililllM^ 



A NARROW ESCAPE. 



65 



driver to bowsman, and accorded the proud priv- 
ilesfe of steerino- the boat instead of the mules. 

By actual count, during his first trip in his new 
position, he fell overboard fourteen times. This 
was serious. The malaria of the canal-region 
would in all probability have taken hold of his 
system eventually ; but these frequent baths 
greatly helped it. He could not swim a stroke ; 
and aid to fish him out was not always forthcoming. 
One dark and rainy midnight, as the Evening 
Star was leavino- one of those lone reaches of 
slack water, which abounded in the Ohio and Penn- 
sylvania Canal, the boy was called out of his berth 
to take his turn in tending bow-line. Bundling 
out of bed, his eyes only half-opened, he took his 
place on the narrow platform below the bow-deck 
and began uncoiling a rope to steady the boat 
through a lock, which it was approaching. Sleepily 
and slowly he unwound the coil, until it knotted 
and caught in a narrow cleft in the edge of the 
deck. He gave it a sudden pull, but it held fast ; 
then another and a stronger pull, when it gave way, 
and hurled him over the bow into the water. 
Down he went into the dark night and still darker 
water ; and the Evening Star glided on, leaving 
him to be buried in the slime of the canal. No 
human help was near ; God alone could save him, 
and He only by a miracle. So the boy thought, as he 
went down saying the prayer which his mother had 
taught him. Instinctively clutching the rope, he 



66 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



sank below the surface ; but the rope soon tight- 
ened in his grasp and held firmly. Hand over 
hand he climbed to the deck, and was again 
among the living. Another kink had caught in 
another crevice and proved his salvation. Was it 
the prayer or the love of his praying mother, that 
saved him? The boy did not know; but, long 
after the boat had passed the lock, he stood there 
in his dripping clothes, pondering the question. 

Coiling the rope, he tried to throw it again into 
the crevice, but it had lost the knack of kinking. 
Many times he tried — six hundred it is said — and 
then sat down and reflected : " I have thrown this 
rope six hundred times. I might throw it ten 
times as many without its catching. Ten times six 
hundred are six thousand, so there were six thou- 
sand chances against my life. Against such odds 
Providence alone could have saved it. Providence, 
therefore, thinks it worth saving, and if that's so, 
I wont throw it away on a canal-boat. I'll go 
home, get an education, and become a man." 

Straightway he acted on the resolution, and not 
long after stood before his mother's log-cottage 
in the Cuyahoga Wilderness. It was late at night. 
The stars were out, and the moon was down, but 
by the firelight, that came through the window, 
he saw his mother kneeling before an open book, 
which lay on a chair in the corner. She was read- 
ing, but her eyes were off the page, looking up to 
the Invisible : 



AGAIN AT HOME. 



67 



"Oh turn unto me, and have mercy upon me ! 
Give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the 
son of Thy handmaid !" 

Then she read what sounded hke a prayer, but 
this is all the boy remembered, as he for the first 
time comprehended, that his departure had crushed 
her. 

He opened the door, and put his arm about her 
neck, and his head upon her bosom. What words 
he said we do not know ; but there, by her side, 
he gave back to God the life, which He had given. 
Thus the mother's prayer was answered. Thus 
sprang up the seed, which with toil and tears she 
had planted. 

For a short time he remained at home, comfort- 
ing his mother and endeavoring to reconcile her 
to his hopes of a sea-faring life. Having accom- 
plished this, he was about to take his second de- 
parture, when the malaria seized him. For six 
months his strong frame was shaken with fever 
and ague. He lay upon the bed, the "ague-cake" 
in his side. Tenderly, Indefatigably, his mother 
nursed him during his days of suffering, which 
her care and his iron constitution at last enabled 
him to overcome. He was still determined, how- 
ever, to return to the canal, and thence to the lake 
and ocean, Mrs. Garfield well knew that any 
opposition would be useless. She therefore ar- 
gued that he had better attend school for a time, 
until at least he was able to resume severe labor, 



53 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

and thus fit himself to teach during the winter 
months, when he could not sail. He reluctantly 
consented to his mother's wishes. So came 
about a great change, which made Jim Garfield's 
future wonderfully different from that, which he 
had woven from his thread of fancies, by the aid 
of the " Pirate's Own Book." 



I 



CHAPTER V. 

INTER FOLIA FRCCTUS — FRUIT AMID THE LEAVKS. 

UP to this time, in our hero's life, there are 
no pohtical impressions to be recorded. 
The boy well remembers attending a po- 
litical meeting in the ever-memorable Harrison 
campaign, merely as a curiosity-seeker. Nor is 
it to be recorded that he had any deep religious 
emotions. He went regularly, when at home, to 
the Disciples' meeting, first at Bentleyville, and 
later at the school-house near his home, where his 
Uncle Boynton had organized a congregation. 
The polemics of religion interested him deeply at 
that time ; but his heart was not touched. He was 
familiar with Bible-texts, and was often a formid- 
able disputant. One day, when about fifteen, he 
was digging potatoes for Mr. Patrick, in Orange, 
and carr^'ing them in a basket from the patch to 
the cellar. Near the cellar-door sat a neighbor, 
talking to the farmer's grown-up daughter about 
the merits of the controversy between sprinkling 
and immersion, and arguing that, sprinkling was 
baptism within the meaning of the Scriptures. 
James overheard him say, that a drop was as good 
as a fountain. He stopped on his way to the field, 
and began to quote this text from Hebrews: "'Let 
6* (69) 



-Q THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

US draw near wlih a true heart in full assurance 
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil 
consciente.'" "Ah, you see," said the man, "it 
says 'sprinkled.' " "Wait, for the rest of the text," 
replied James — '"and our bodies washed with 
pure water!' Now, how can you wash your body 
with a drop of water?" and, without waiting for a 
reply, he hastened to the potato-field, 

James was now seventeen years of age. Yet 
he had seemingly cherished little ambition for any- 
thing beyond the prospects offered by the labor- 
ious life of a sailor, upon which he had entered. 
It happened, that during the Winter of his ague- 
illness there came to Orange to teach the district 
school, a young man named Samuel D. Bates — 
now a distinguished minister of the Gospel at 
Marion, Ohio — who had been at school in the ad- 
jacent township. He had attended what was then 
a high school, known as the Geauga Seminary. 
He and Garfield became firm friends. Bates was 
full of his school-experiences. Finding his new 
acquaintance so intelligent, and having the true 
proselyting spirit, which was so common among 
men in the backwoods, who were beeinninof to 
taste the pleasures of education, he was very anxious 
to take back several new students. Garfield lis- 
tened to the representations of his eloquent friend, 
and was tempted. He was too weak and 111 to carry 
out his plan of becoming a sailor at once; and he 
finally resolved to attend the high school one ses- 



AT GEAUGA SEMINAHY. 



71 



sibn, and postpone sailing until the next Fall. 
This resolution made a major-general, a senator, 
and a President of him, instead of a common sail- 
or before the mast, on a Lake Erie schooner. 

Accordingly he joined two other young men, 
William Boynton (his cousin), and Orrin H. Judd of 
Orange. They reached Chester March 6th, 1849, 
and rented a room in an unpainted frame-house 
nearly west of the seminary and across the street 
from it. Garfield had seventeen dollars in his 
pocket, scraped together by his mother and his 
brother Thomas. They took provisions, and a 
cooking stove ; and a poor widow cooked and 
washed for them for an absurdly small sum. The 
academy was a two-stor)^ building ; and the school, 
with about a hundred pupils of both sexes, drawn 
from the farming country around Chester, was in 
a flourishing condition. It had a library of perhaps 
one hundred and fifty volumes — more books than 
young Garfield had ever seen before. A vener- 
able gentleman, named Daniel Branch, was prin- 
cipal of the school, and his wife was his chief 
assistant. The other teachers were Mr. and Mrs. 
Coffin, Mr. Biorelow and Miss Abieail Curtis. 
Mrs. Branch had Introduced an Iconoclastic o-ram- 
mar, which claimed that all others were founded 
on a false basis ; maintained that but was a verb 
in the Imperative mood, and meant be oiU, and that 
a7id was also a verb in the Imperative mood, and 
meant add ; and tried In other ways to upset the 



-^2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

accepted etymology. Garfield had been reared 
in " Kirkham " at the district-school, and refused 
to accept the new system. In the grammar-classes 
that term there was a constant battle between him 
and the teacher. Here, though he did not know 
It at the time, he first saw his future wife. Lucretia 
Randolph, a quiet, studious girl in her seventeenth 
year, was among the students. There was no asso- 
ciation between the two however, save in classes, 
James was awkward and bashful, and contem- 
plated the girls at a distance as a superior order 
of beings. 

He bought, soon after arriving, the second alge- 
bra he had ever seen. He studied it and natural 
philosophy. At the close of the Spring term he 
made his first public speech. It was a six minutes' 
oration delivered at the annual exhibition at the 
request of a literary society, to which he belonged. 
He recorded In a diary, that he kept at the time, 
that he " was very much scared," and " very glad 
of a short curtain across the platform that hid my 
shaking legs from the audience." Among the 
books he read at this time was the Autobiography 
of Henry C. Wright ; and the determined lad was 
much Impressed with the author's account of how 
healthfully he lived in Scotland on bread and milk 
and crackers, and how hard he could study. Fired 
with the idea, he told his cousin, that they had 
been too extravagant, and that another term they 
must "board themselves" and adopt Wright's diet. 



WORKING HIS WAY. m- 

At the close of the session he returned to Orange, 
helped his brother build a barn for his mother, and 
then entered into the hard work of earning money 
— for, from the time he left Chester until his death, 
he always paid his way — to continue his studies at 
Chester, when the Fall term began. He worked 
at harvesting, and secured enough to guarantee 
his continuance at the Geauga Seminary, and to 
pay off some of the doctor's bills incurred during 
his protracted illness of the Winter before. On 
his return to the Seminary the experiment of 
" boarding themselves " was not repeated. An 
arrangement was made with Heman Woodworth. 
a carpenter of Chester, to live at his house, and 
have lodging, board, washing, fuel and light for 
one dollar and six cents a week. This sum he 
expected to earn by helping the carpenter on 
Saturdays and at odd hours on school days. The 
carpenter was building a two-story house on the 
east side of the road, a little south of the Semi- 
nary-grounds ; and James' first work was to get 
out siding at two cents a board. The first Satur- 
day he planed fifty-one boards and so earned one 
dollar and two cents, the most money he had ever 
received for a day's work. He began that Fall the 
study of Greek. That term he paid his way, 
bought a few books, and returned home with 
three dollars in his pocket. He now thought him- 
self competent to teach a country-school, but after 
a two days' tramp through Cuyahoga County, he 



J A THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

failed to find employment. Some schools had al- 
ready engaged teachers ; and, where there was 
still a vacancy, the trustees thought him too young. 
He returned to his mother, completely discouraged, 
and greatly humiliated by the rebuffs he had met 
with. He made a resolution, that he would never 
again ask for a position of any kind. This reso- 
lution he faithfully kept ; for every public place, 
which he afterwards held, came to him unsought. 
Next morning, while still in the depths of de- 
spondency, he heard a man call to his mother from 
the road: "Widow Gaffield " (a local corruption 
of the name of Garfield), "where's your boy Jim? I 
wonder if he wouldn't like to teach our school at 
the Ledge ?" James went out and found a neigh- 
bor from a district a mile away, where the school 
had been broken up for two Winters by the row- 
dyism of the big boys. He said, that he would like 
to try the school, but before deciding must consult 
his uncle, Amos Boynton. That evening there 
was a family-consultation. Uncle Amos pon- 
dering over the matter, finally said : " You go 
and try it. You will go into that school as the 
boy 'Jim' Gaffield; see that you come out as Mr. 
Garfield, the schoolmaster." The young man 
mustered the school In the school-room, after a 
hard tussle with the bully of the district, who re- 
sented a floeelne and tried to brain the teacher 
with a billet of wood. No problem in his after life 
ever took so much absorbing thought and study, 



TEACHING SCHOOL. y :- 

as that of makina- the Ledofe school successful. 
He devised all sorts of plans for making study 
interesting- to the children ; joined in the out-door 
sports of the big boys ; read aloud evenings to 
the people, with whom he boarded ; and won the 
hearts of old and young. Before spring he won 
the reputation of being the best schoolmaster, 
who had ever taught at the Ledg-e. His washes 
were " twelve dollars a month and found," and he 
" boarded round" in the families of the pupils. 

He returned to the Seminary in the spring 
(1850), and found that the principal, Mr. Branch, 
had left and was succeeded by Spencer J. Fowler, 
while John B. Beach had stepped into the shoes 
of the crusty, iconoclastic grammarian, Mrs. 
Branch. During this third term at the Seminary, 
he and his cousin Henry " boarded themselves," 
and put in practice Wright's dietary scheme. At 
the end of six weeks the boys found that their ex- 
penses for food had been just thirty-one cents per 
week apiece. Henry thought that they were liv- 
ing too poorly for good health. They therefore 
agreed to increase their outlay to fifty cents per 
week apiece. James had, up to this time, looked 
upon a college course as wholly beyond his reach; 
but he met a colleofe graduate, who told him that 
he was mistaken in supposing, that only the sons 
of rich parents were able to take such a course. 
A poor boy could get through, he said, but it 
would take a long time and very hard work. The 



1^ 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



usual time was four years in preparatory studies 
and four in the regular college course. James 
thought, that, by working part of the time to earn 
money, he could get through in twelve years. He 
then resolved to bend all his energies to getting a 
coUeee education. From this resolution he never 
swerved a hair's breadth. Until it was accom- 
plished, it was the one overmastering idea of his 
life. The tenacity and single-heartedness, with 
which he clune to it, and the sacrifices, which he 
made to realize it, unquestionably exerted a pow- 
erful influence in moulding and solidifying his 
character. 

In March of this year, after having exercised 
his full freedom in reaching conclusions, he joined 
the Church of the Disciples, who are also known as 
"Campbellites," and was baptized in a little stream 
that flows into the Chagrin River. His conversion 
was brought about by a quiet, sweet-tempered 
man, who held a series of meetings in the school- 
house near the Garfield homestead, and told in 
the plainest manner, and with the most straight- 
forward earnestness, the story of the Gospel. The 
creed, which he professed, and which was then held 
by few, but now by about half a million persons, 
is as follows : 

1. We call ourselves Christians or Disciples. 

2. We believe in God the Father. 

3. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the liv- 
ing God, and our only Saviour. We regard the divinity of 
Christ as the fundamental truth in the Christian system. 



HIS CHURCH. 7- 

4. We believe in the Holy Spirit, both as an agency in 
conversion and as an indwcller in the Jieart of the Christian. 

5. We accept both the Old and the New Testament Scrip- 
tures as the inspired word of God. 

6. We believe in the future punishment of the wicked and 
the future reward of the righteous. 

7. We believe that the Deity is a prayer-hearing and prayer- 
answering God. 

8. We observe the institution of the Lord's Supper on 
every Lord's Day. To this table it is our practice neither to 
invite nor to debar. We say it is the Lord's Suppfer for all 
the Lord's children. 

9. We plead for the union of all God's people on the Bible 
and the Bible alone. 

10. The Bible is our only creed. 

11. We maintain that all the ordinances of the Gospel 
should be observed as they were in the days of the Apostles. 

When the Summer came, he resumed his old 
trade, and was happy among the hammers and 
planes, the saws and chisels. He earned a fair 
amount, and returned in the Fall to the Seminary. 
During this Fall he entered a school of book- 
keeping, penmanship and elocution, kept by Dr. 
Alonzo Harlow, and located at Chagrin Falls, 
Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Garfield was the doc- 
tor's janitor, paying his tuition in that manner, and 
at the same time earninof his board of a neiehbor- 
ing farmer by doing chores about the place. Here 
he took his first lesson in elocution, and received 
the first real encouragement to fit himself for pub- 
lic life. 

In the Winter he taught a village-school in 
Warrensville, receiving sixteen dollars a month 
7 



►,g THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

and board. One of his pupils desired to study 
aleebra. Althouofh Garfield had never taught this 
branch of mathematics, he bought a text-book, 
studied nights, kept ahead of his pupil, and finished 
his Instruction without a suspicion on the part of 
the pupil that the master was not an expert in the 
science. This was Garfield's last experience in 
Chester or its neighborhood. Writing many years 
afterward of the time spent here, he said : 

I remember with great satisfaction the work, which was ac- 
complished for me at Chester. It marked the most decisive 
change in my life. While there I formed a definite purpose 
and plan to complete a college course. It is a great point 
gained, when a young man makes up his mind to devote sev- 
eral years to the accomplishment of a definite work. With 
the educational facilities now afforded in our country, no 
young man, who has good health and is master of his own 
actions, can be excused for not obtaining a good education. 
Poverty is very inconvenient, but it is a fine spur to activity, 
and may be made a rich blessing. 

^ In the Spring he went with his mother to visit 
relatives in Muskingum County, and rode for the 
first time in a railroad train. The Cleveland and 
Columbus Railroad had just been opened ; and he 
went to Columbus from Orange. Hon. Gamaliel 
Kent, then representative from Geauga, showed 
him over the State-capital and the legislative 
halls. From Columbus Garfield and his mother 
went by stage to Zanesville, and then floated 
eighteen miles in a skiff down the Muskingum 
River to their destination. While there, James 



STVD : 'IXG A T HIRAM. ^^ 

taught a Spring school In a log-building on Back 
Run, in Harrison Township. The coal, burned in 
the school-house, he was oblisfed to die from a 
bank in the rear of the house. 

In the Summer he returned with his mother to 
Orange. He decided to continue his education at 
a new school, established by the Disciples the 
year before, at Hiram, Portage County, a cross- 
roads village, twelve miles from any town or rail- 
road. His religious feelings naturally called him 
to the young institution of his own denominadon. 
In August, 1 85 1, he arrived at Hiram, and found 
fa plain brick-building standing in the midst of a 
cornfield, with perhaps a dozen farm-houses, near 
enough for boarding-places for the students. It 
was a lonely, isolated place, on a high ridge, divid- 
ing the waters, which flowed into Lake Erie, from 
those which ran southward to the Ohio. The Rev, 
A. S. Hayden was the principal, Thomas Munnell 
and Norman Dunshee teachers of mathematics 
and Greek. Recently General Garfield said, in an 
address : 

A few days after the beginning of the term, I saw a class 
of three reciting in mathematics — geometry I think. I had 
never seen a geometry, and, regarding both teacher and class 
with a feeling of reverential awe for the intellectual height 
to which they had climbed, I studied their faces so closely 
that I seem to see them now as distinctly as I saw them then. 
And it has been my good fortune since that time to claim 
them all as intimate friends. The teacher was Thomas TMun- 
nell, and the members of his class were William B. Haien, 
George A. Baker and Almeda A. Booth. 
F 



8o 



TiiE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



He lived In a room with four other pupils; stud- 
ied harder than ever, having now his college pro- 
ject fully in mind; finished six books of Caesar; 
and made good progress in Greek. He met, on 
entering the institute, a woman, who exercised a 
strong influence on his intellectual life, Miss Al- 
meda Booth — the Margaret Fuller of the West — 
a teacher in the school. She, nine years his se- 
nior, possessed a mind of remarkable range and 
grasp, and a character of unusual sweetness, pu- 
rity and strength. She became his guide and 
companion in his studies, his mental and moral 
heroine, and his unselfish, devoted friend. 

When Winter came, he returned to Warrens- 
ville, and taught school again, earning eighteen 
dollars a month. Spring found him again at Hiram. 
During this term, in company with Corydon E. 
Fuller, he aided Miss Booth in writing a colloquy 
for the public exercises at the close of the school- 
year. During the ensuing Summer (1852), he 
helped to build a house in the village, planing the 
sidinsf and shinorlinof the roof himself. In the Fall, 
when the institute opened, one of the tutors in the 
department of English and ancient languages fell 
ill, and James Garfield was advanced to his place. 
Henceforward he taught and studied at the same 
time, his eye all the while fixed upon the bright 
beacon of a college-education. He beafan Zeno- 
phon's Anabasis among other studies. That Win- 
ter he became a member of President Hayden's 
household. 



PJiEPARIXG FOR COLLEGE. gl 

The Summer vacation of 1853 brought even 
harder work. In company with eleven students, 
he formed a class, and hired Professor Dunshee 
to give them private lessons for one month. 
Durine that time he mastered the Pastorals of 
Virgil (the Georgics and Bucolics entire), and 
the first six books of Homer's Iliad, and had a 
thorough drill in Latin and Greek o-rammar at each 
recitation. He was also a member of an active 
literary society during this month. When the Fall 
term was fairly underway, Garfield again hastened 
his preparation for college. He, with several 
other students, formed a Translation Society, that 
met at Miss Booth's rooms two evenings a week, 
and made a joint translation with her of the Book 
of Romans. Their work was more thorough than 
rapid. An entry in Garfield's diary for December 
15th, 1853, reads: "Translation Society sat three 
hours in Miss Booth's rooms, and agreed upon the 
translation of nine verses." To this class. Pro- 
fessor Dunshee contributed several essays on the 
German commentators, De Wette and Tholuck. 
During the Winter (1853-54), Garfield read the 
whole of " Demosthenes on the Crown." 

When he went to Hiram, he had studied Latin 
only six weeks, and just begun Greek, and was, 
therefore, just in a condition to begin the four 
years' preparatory course, ordinarily taken by stu- 
dents before entering college in the Freshman 
class. Yet, in three years' time, he fitted himself 



g2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

• 

to enter the Junior class, two years further along. 
While thus crowding six years of study Into 
three, he earned his living by teaching. To 
accomplish this, he shut out the whole world 
from his mind, save that little portion of it within 
the range of his studies, knowing nothing of poli- 
tics or the news of the day, reading no light litera- 
ture, and engaging in no social, recreations, that 
took his time from his books. 

The college question was now before him. But 
where should he go ? He had recently read some 
lectures by President Hopkins of Williams Col- 
lege, that had made him think favorably of that 
institution. But he had originally intended to 
enter Bethany College, which was sustained by the 
church, of which he was a member, and presided 
over by Alexander Campbell, the man, whom 
above all others he had been taught to admire and 
revere. A familiar letter shall tell us how he rea- 
soned and acted: 

There are three reasons why I have decided not to go to 
Bethany : ist. The course of study is not so extensive or 
thorough as in Eastern colleges. 2d. Bethany leans too 
heavily toward slavery. 3d. I am the son of Disciple parents, 
am one myself, and have had but little acquaintance with 
people of other views, and, having always lived in the West, 
I think it will make me more liberal, both in my religious 
and general views and sentiments, to go into a new circle, 
where I shall be under new influences. These considerations 
led me to conclude to go to some New England college. I 
therefore wrote to the President of Brown University, Yale 



WILLIAMS COLLEGE CHOSEN. g -, 

and Williams, setting forth the amount of study I had done, 
and asking how long it would take me to finish their rourse. 
Their answers are now before me. All tell me I can 
graduate in two years. They are all brief business notes, 
but President Hopkins concludes with this sentence: 'If 
you come here, we shall be glad to do what we can for you.' 
Other things being so nearly equal, this sentence, which 
seems to be a kind of friendly grasp of the hand, has settled 
the question for me. I shall start for Williams next week. 

Some points in this letter of a young man 
about to start away from home to college will 
strike the reader as remarkable. Nothing could 
show more mature judgment about the matter 
than his wise anxiety to leave the Disciples' in- 
fluence and see somethino- of other men and other 
opinions. It is noticeable, that one, trained to 
look upon Alexander Campbell as the master-in- 
tellect of the churches of the day, should liave 
revolted against studying in his college, because 
it leaned too strongly toward slavery. And in 
the final turning of his decision upon the litde, 
friendly commonplace, that closed one of the let- 
ters, we catch a glimpse of the warm, sympathetic 
nature of the man, which a large and wide expe- 
rience of the world in after years never hardened. 

So, in the fall of 1854, the pupil of Geauga 
Seminary and of Hiram Institute received admis- 
sion at the venerable doors of Williams College. 



CHAPTER VI. 



GARFIELD AT WILLIAMS. 




HEN Garfield reached Williams Col- 
lege, in June, 1854, he had about three 
hundred dollars, which he had saved 
while teaching at Hiram. With this amount he 
hoped to finish the first year. The college year 
had not quite closed. A few weeks remained, 
which he utilized by attending the recitations of 
the Sophomore class, that he might become familiar 
with the methods of the professors before testing 
his ability to pass the examinations of the Junior 
year. He had a keen sense of his w.ant of the 
social advantages and general culture, which the 
students, with whom he came in contact, had en- 
joyed all their lives ; but his homely manners and 
Western garb did not subject him to any slights 
or mortifications. The spirit of the college was 
generous and manly. No student was estimated 
by the clothes he wore ; no one was snubbed, 
because he was poor. The intellectual force, 
originality and immense powers of study, pos- 
sessed by the new-comer from Ohio, were soon 
recognized by his classmates ; and he was shown 
as much respect, cordiality and companionship, as 
if he had been the son of a millionaire. His mates 

(84) 



FIRS T DAYS AT U TL L I A MS. g ^ 

recall him as very large, quite German in appearance 
— so stronof is o-ood Saxon blood, after centuries of 
exile from the Saxon land — blonde and bearded, 
strong-limbed, serious but sociable, ?nd with easy- 
going, Western manners, ready wit, and broad 
sympathy going out to all his fellows. The boys 
called him "Old Gar," so readily did he assume 
the patriarchate of the college in the brief two 
years he was there. He boarded in club, and did 
not smoke or drink. 

The beauty of the scenery around Williams- 
town made a strong impression upon his fancy. 
He had never seen mountains before. The spurs 
of the Green Hills, which reach down from Ver- 
mont and inclose the little college-town in their 
arms, were to the young man from the monoto- 
nous landscapes of the Western Reserve a won- 
derful revelation of grandeur and beauty. He 
climbed Greylock and explored all the glens and 
valleys of the neighborhood. 

The examination for entering the Junior class 
was passed without difficulty. Although self-taught 
(he received help from his friend and companion 
in his studies. Miss Booth), he had a thorough 
knowledge of the books required. A long Summer 
vacation followed his examination ; and this time 
he employed in the college-library, the first large 
collection of books he had ever seen. His ab- 
sorption in the double work of teaching and fitting 
himself for college had hitherto left him little time 



g(5 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

for general reading, so that the hbrary opened a 
new world of profit and delight. Of Shakespeare 
he had read only the few extracts, which he had 
found in his reading-books in his early school-days. 
Of the whole range of fiction he had voluntarily 
deprived himself at eighteen, when he joined the 
church, having serious views of the business of life, 
and imbibing the notion, then almost universal 
among religious people in the country-districts of 
the West, that novel-reading was a waste of time, 
and, therefore, a simple, worldly sort of intellectual 
amusement. With weeks of leisure to range at 
will over shelves of the college-library, he began 
with Shakespeare, which he read through from 
cover to cover. Then he took up English history 
and poetry. Of the poets, Tennyson pleased him 
best, which is not to be wondered at, for the influ- 
ence of the Laureate was then at its height. He 
learned whole poems by heart, and could always 
repeat them. 

After he had been six or eight months at col- 
leee, and had devoured an immense amount of 
serious reading, he began to suffer from intel- 
lectual dyspepsia. He found, that his mind was 
not assimilating what he read, and would often 
refuse to be held down to the printed page. Then 
he revised his notions about books of fiction, and 
concluded, that romance is as valuable a part of 
intellectual food as salad is of a dinner. He pre- 
scribed for himself one novel a month; and on 



HIS COLLEGE WORK. 



^7 



this medicine his mind speedily recuperated and 
recovered all Its old elasticity. Cooper's Leather- 
stockinof Tales were the first novels he read, and 
afterwards Sir Walter Scott's. An English class- 
mate Introduced hini to the works of Dickens and 
Thackeray. He formed a habit in those da)'s of 
making notes, while he read, of everything, which 
he did not clearly understand, such as historical 
references, mythological allusions, technical terms, 
etc. These notes he would look up afterwards in 
the library, that he might leave nothing obscure 
in his mind concerning the books he absorbed. 
The thoroughness, which he displayed in his work 
In after life, was thus begun at that early period, 
and applied to every subject he took hold of. 
The oTfound, which his mind traversed, he care- 
fully cleared and ploughed before leaving It for 
fresh fields. 

Garfield studied Latin and Greek, and took up 
German as an elective study. One year at Wil- 
liams completed his classical studies. In which he 
was far advanced before he came there. German 
he carried on successfully, until he read Goethe 
and Schiller readily and acquired considerable 
fluency In conversation. He entered with zeal 
into the literary work of the college, becoming a 
vigorous debater In the Phllologlan Society, of 
which he was president In 1855-56. The Influ- 
ence of the mind and character of Dr. Hopkins 
was especially felt in shaping the direction of Gar- 



gg THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

field's thought and views of life. He often said 
that the good president rose like a sun before 
him, and enliehtened his whole mental and moral 
nature. His preaching and teaching were a con- 
stant inspiration to the young Ohio student; and 
he became the centre of his college life, the object 
of his hero-worship. 

At the end of the Fall term of 1854, Garfield 
enjoyed a Winter vacation of two months in 
North Pownal, Vt, teaching a writing class in the 
same school-honse, where a year before Chester 
A. Arthur was the principal. Garfield wrote a 
broad, handsome hand, that was strongly indi- 
vidual, and was the envy of the boys and girls, 
who tried to imitate it. 

At the end of the college year, Garfield returned 
home to see his mother, who was then living with 
a daughter at Solon. His money was exhausted ; 
but two expedients were open to him, either to 
borrow enough to take him through to graduation 
at the end of the next year, or to resume teaching, 
until he earned the requisite amount, and so break 
the continuity of his college course. He however 
insured his life for eight hundred dollars, which 
his brother Thomas undertook to furnish In Instal- 
ments. After Thomas became unable to advance 
money, Dr. Robinson of Hiram assumed the obli- 
gation and took the insurance policy as a security. 

He returned to Williams In the Fall, and was 
again active In his contributions to the College 



LITERAR Y CONTRIBUTIONS. 



89 



Mao-azlne, the Williams Quarterly. From these 
contributions we cannot quote as Hberally as we 
would like. We find three poetical productions. 
One is a political satire, called "Sam," and con- 
tains the lines: 

" 'Twas noon of night, and by his flickering lamp, 
That gloated o'er his dingy room and damp, 
With glassy eye and haggard face there sat, 
A disappointed, worn-out Democrat ; 
His eloquence all wasted — plans all failed. 
His spurious coin fast to the counter nailed. 
Deception's self was now at length deceived. 
His lies, political, no more believed." 

Another, evidently a squib about some college 
prank, is modeled on Tennyson. It is entided 
" The Charge of the Tight Brigade." The follow- 
ing is a portion: 

" Bottles to right of them. 
Bottles to left of them. 
Bottles in front of them, 

Fizzled and sutidered. 
Ent'ring with shout and yell, 
Boldly they drank and well, 
They caught the Tartar then ; 
Oh, what a perfect sell! 

Sold — the half hundred. 
Grinned all the dentals bare. 
Swung all their caps in air, 
Uncorking bottles there. 
Watching the Freshmen while 

Every one wondered; , 

Plunged in tobacco smoke. 
With many a desperate stroke. 
Dozens of bottles broke. 
T7ien they came back — but not. 

Not the half hundred." 

8 



QQ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT CARFIEI 

The third contribution, in verse, we reproduce 
entire. It is entitled " Memory." ' 

" 'Tis beauteous night ; the stars look brightly down 
Upon the earth, decked in her robe of snow. 
No light gleams at the window save my own, 
Which gives its cheer to midnight and to me. 
And now with noiseless step sweet Memory comes, 
And leads me gently through her twilight realms. 
What poet's tuneful lyre has ever sung, 
Or delicatest pencil e'er portrayed 
The enchanted shadowy land where Memory dwells ? 
It has its valleys, cheerless, lone and drear, 
Dark-shaded by the mournful cypress tree. 
And yet its sunlit mountain-tops are bathed 
In heaven's own blue. Upon its craggy cliffs, 
Robed in the dreamy light of distant years. 
Are clustered joys serene of other days ; 
Upon its gently-sloping hillsides bend 
The weeping-willows o'er the sacred dust 
Of dear departed ones ; and yet, in that land, 
WTiere'er our footsteps fall upon the shore, 
They that were sleeping rise from out the dust 
Of death's long, silent years, and round us stand. 
As erst they did before the prison tomb 
Received their clay within its voiceless halls. 
The heavens that bend above that land are hung 
With clouds of various hues : some dark and chill. 
Surcharged with sorrow, cast their sombre shade 
Upon the sunny, joyous land below ; 
• Others are floating through the dreamy air, 
WTiite as the falling snow, their margins tinged 
W^ith gold and crimson hues ; their shadows fall 
Upon the flowery meads and sunny slopes, 
Soft as the shadows of an angel's wing. 
When the rough battle of the day is done. 
And evening's peace falls gently on the heart, 
I bound away across the noisy years. 
Unto the utmost verge of Memory's land, 
WTiere earth and sky in dreamy distance meet, 
And Memory dim with dark oblivion joins; 



COLLEGE EDITOR. gj 

Where woke the first-remembered sounds that fell 

Upon the ear in childhood's early morn ; 

And wandering thence, along the rolling years, 

I see the shadow of my former self 

Gliding from childhood up to man's estate. 

The path of youth winds down through many a vale 

And on the brink of many a dread abyss, 

From out whose darkness comes no ray of light, 

Save that a phantom dances o'er the gulf. 

And beckons toward the verge. Again the path 

Leads o'er a summit 'vhere the sunbeams fall ; 

And thus in light and shade, sunshine and gloom, 

Sorrow and joy, this life-path leads along." 

The prose contributions were many, and upon 
various subjects. During his second year, 1855- 
'56, he and W. R. Baxter, Henry E. Knox, E. 
Clarence Smith and John Tatlock, were the edi- 
tors for the class of '56. In the opening number 
of his year, September, 1855, he supplied the Edi- 
tor's Table. How pleasantly he voices the trou- 
ble which every newspaper editor or writer has 
experienced, when he says in his opening lines : 

It is, indeed, an uninviting task to bubble up sentiment 
and elaborate thought in obedience to corporate laws ; and 
not unfrequently those children of the brain, when paraded 
before the proper authorities, show by their meager proj)or- 
tions, that they have not been nourished by the genial warmth 
of a willing heart. 

He thus states the purpose of the Quartei^ly, 
which in those days was a very creditable maga- 
zine : 

It proposes a kind of intellectual tournament where we 
may learn to hurl the lance and wield the sword, and thus 



Q2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

prepare for the conflict of life. It shall be our aim to keep 
the lists still open and the arena clear, that the knights of the 
quill may learn to hurl the lance and wield the sword of 
thought, and thus be ready for sterner duties. We shall also 
endeavor to decorate the arena with all the flowers that our 
own gardens afford, and thus render the place more pleasant 
and inviting. We should remember, however, that it is no 
honor or profit merely to appear in the arena, but the wreath 
is for those who contend. 

From a brilliant review of the life and writings 
of the unfortunate Karl Theodor Korner, that ap- 
peared in the number for March, 1856, we quote 
a single paragraph : 

The greater part of our modern literature bears evident 
marks of the haste which characterizes all the movements of 
this age ; but, in reading these older authors, we are im- 
pressed with the idea, that they enjoyed the most comforta- 
ble leisure. Many books we can read in a railroad car, and 
feel a harmony between the rushing of the train and the haste 
of the author ; but to enjoy the older authors, we need the 
quiet of a winter evening — an easy chair before a cheerful 
fire, and all the equanimity of spirits we can command. Then 
the genial good-nature, the rich fullness, the persuasive elo- 
quence of those old masters will fall upon us like the warm, 
glad sunshine, and afTord those hours of calm contemplation 
in which the spirit may expand with generous growth, and 
gain deep and comprehensive views. The pages of friendly 
old Goldsmith come to us like a golden autumn day, when 
every object which meets the eye bears all the impress of the 
completed year, and the beauties of an autumnal forest. 

Writing on " The Province of History," Garfield 
defined the historian's duty : 

There are two points which the historian should ever 
have before him : 



" THE PR O VINCE OF HIS TOR K" g ^ 

First — The relation of facts tc each other and to the whole 
body of history ; and, 

Second — The tendency of the whole toward some great 
end. 

For every village, state and nation there is an aggregate of 
native talent which God has given, and by which, together 
with his Providence, he leads that nation on, and thus leads 
the world. In the light of these truths we affirm, that no 
man can understand the history of any nation, or of the 
world, v/ho does not recognize in it the power of God, and 
behold His stately goings forth as He walks among the nations. 
It is His hand that is moving the vast superstructure of human 
history, and, though but one of the windows were unfurnished, 
like that of the Arabian palace, yet all the powers of earth 
could never complete it without the aid of the Divine Archi- 
tect. 

To employ another figure, — the world's history is a divine 
poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and 
of every man a v/ord. Its strains have been pealing along 
down the centuries, and, though there have been mingled the 
discord of roaring cannon, and dying men, yet to the Chris- 
tian, Philosopher and Historian — the humble listener^there 
has been a divine melody running through the song, which 
speaks of hope and halcyon days to come. The record of 
every orphan's sigh, of every widow's prayer, of every noble 
deed, of every honest heart-throb for the right is swelling 
that gentle strain; and when, at last, the great end is attained; 
when the lost image of God is restored to the human soul ; 
when the church anthem can be pealed forth without a dis- 
cordant note, then will angels join in the chorus, and all the 
sons of God again "shout for joy." 

Young Garfield's connection with the Qitartei'ly 
proved of great benefit to him. It gave him ex- 
perience and brought him into closer contact with 
8* 



g - THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the men around him. He first came to know Sam 
Bowles through the Quarterly, which was printed 
in Bowles' office. Amongf the constant contribu- 
tors durinof Garfield's connection with it as editor, 
we notice Professor Chadbourne, Horace E. Scud- 
der, G. B. Manly, S. G. W. Benjamin, J. Gimilan, 
W. R. Dimmock, John Savery and W. S. B. Hop- 
kins, some of whom have gained a more distin- 
guished fame than in the pages of the College 
Quarterly. 

His second Winter vacation was passed at 
Prestenkill, New York, a country neighborhood, 
about six miles from Troy, where one of the Dis- 
ciple preachers from Ohio, named Streeter, was 
occupied in preaching. Garfield organized a writing- 
school, to keep himself busy, and occasionally 
preached in his friend's church. During a visit to 
Troy he became acquainted with the teachers and 
directors of the public schools, and was one day 
surprised by the offer of a position, with a salary 
far beyond what he had expected to earn on his 
return to Ohio after his graduation. The propo- 
sition was debated gravely. If he accepted, he 
could pay his debts, marry the girl to whom he 
was engaged, and live a life of comparative com- 
fort in an Eastern city. But he could not finish 
his college course, and he would have to sever the 
ties with friends in Ohio and with the struggling 
school at Hiram, to which he was deeply attached. 
He setded the question in a conversation. Walk- 



A TEMPTING OFFER. gr 

ing on a hill, called Mount Olympus, with the gen- 
tleman who had made the proposition, Garfield 
said to him : 

You are not Satan, and I am not Jesus, but we are upon 
the mountain, and you have tempted me powerfully. I think 
I must say, ' ' Get thee behind me. ' ' I am poor, and the salary 
would soon pay my debts and place me in a position of inde- 
pendence ; but there are two objections. I could not accom- 
plish my resolution to complete a college course, and should 
be crippled intellectually for life. Then my roots are all 
fixed in Ohio, where people know me and I know them, and 
this transplanting might not succeed as well in the long run 
as to go back home and work for smaller pay. 

Study at Williams was easy for Garfield. He 
had been used to much harder work at Hiram, 
where he had crowded six years of study into three, 
and tauofht at the same time. Now he had the 
stimulus of a large class, an advantage he had never 
before enjoyed. His lessons were always perfectly 
learned. Professor Chadbourne says that he was 
" the boy who never flunked." He found abundant 
leisure for courses of reading, that involved as 
much brain-work as the college text-books. He 
graduated in August, 1856, with a class-honor, 
established by President Hopkins and highly es- 
teemed in the college — that of Metaphysics — 
reading an essay on ''The Seen and the Unseen." 
It is singular that at different times in the course 
of his education he was thought to have a special 
aptitude for some single line of intellectual work, 



96 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



and that at a later period his talents seemed to lie 
just as strongly in some other line. At one time 
it was mathematics, at another the classics, at an- 
other rhetoric, and finally he excelled in metaphys- 
ics. The truth was that he had a remarkably 
vigorous and well-rounded brain, capable of doing 
effective work of any kind which his will might 
dictate. 

The venerable President Hopkins, recalling his 
illustrious student, speaks thus of him : 

My first remark, then, is that General Garfield was not sent 
to college. He came. This often marks a distinction be- 
tween college students. To some, college is chiefly a place 
of aimless transition through the perilous period between 
boyhood and manhood. Without fixed principles, and with 
no definite aim, with an aversion to study rather than a love 
of it, they seek to get along with the least possible effort. Be- 
tween the whole attitude and bearing of such, and of one 
who comes, the contrast is like that between mechanical and 
vital force. In what General Garfield did there was nothing 
mechanical. He not only came, but made sacrifices to come. 
His work was from a vital force, and so was without fret or 
worry. He came with a high aim, and pursued it steadily. 

A second remark is that the studies of General Garfield 
had breadth. As every student should, he made it his first 
business to master the studies of the class-room. This he did, 
but the college furnishes facilities, and is intended, especially 
in the latter part of its course, to furnish opportunity for gain- 
ing general knowledge, and for self-directed culture. To many, 
the most valuable result of their college course is from these. 
What they have affinity for they find, and often make most 
valuable acquisitions in general literature, in history, in nat- 
ural science, and in politics. Of these facilities and of this 



PRESIDENT HOPR'INS ON GARFIELD. ^y 

opportunity General Garfield availed himself largely. Of his 
tendency toward politics in those days we have an illustration 
in a poem entitled " Sam," which he delivered while in col- 
lege, and in which he satirized the Know-Nothing Party, 
He manifested while in college the same tendency toward 
breadth which he has since, for it is well known that he has 
been a general scholar and a statesman rather than a mere 
politician. 

And as General Garfield was broad in his scholarship, so 
was he in his sympathies. No one thought of him as a re* 
cluse, or as bookish. Not gwen to athletic sports, he was fond 
of them. His mind was open to the impression of natural 
scenery, and, as his constitution was vigorous, he knew well 
the fine points on the mountains around us. He was also 
social in his disposition, both giving gnd inspiring confidence. 
So true is this of his intercourse with the officers of the col- 
lege as well as Avith others, that he was never even suspected 
of anything low or trickish ; and hence, in part, the confi- 
dence I have always felt in his integrity. He had a quick 
eye for anything that turned up with a ludicrous side to it, 
and celebrated a trick the Freshmen played on the Sopho- 
mores by a clever parody of Tennyson's " Charge of the 
Light Brigade," published in the College Quarterly. Respect- 
ing always the individuality of others, and commanding 
without exacting their respect, he was a general favorite with 
his associates. 

A further point in General Garfield's course of study worthy 
of remark was its evenness. There was nothing startling at 
any one time, and no special preference for any one study. 
There was a large general capacity, applicable to any subject, 
and sound sense. As he was more mature than most, he nat- 
urally had a readier and firmer grasp of the higher studies. 
Hence his appointment to the metaphysical oration, then one 
of the high honors of the class. What he did, was done 
with facility, but by honest and avowed work. There was 
no pretence of genius, or alternation of spasmodic effort and 



98 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



of rest, but a satisfactory accomplishment in all directions of 
what was undertaken. Hence there was a steady, healthful, 
onward and upward progress, such as has characterized his 
course since his graduation. If that course should still be 
upward, it would add another to the grand illustrations we 
have already of the spirit of our free institutions. 

President Chadbourne, in a letter to Mr. Hins- 
dale, has also this word to say concerning Gar- 
field : 

He graduated in 1856, soon after I began my work here as 
professor. The students who came under my instruction then 
made a much stronger impression upon me than those of a 
later day, since my attention has been called to other inter- 
ests than those of the lecture-room. But General Garfield, 
•as a student, was one who would at any time impress himself 
upon the memory of his instructors by his manliness and 
excellence of character. He was one whom his teachers 
would never suspect as guilty of a dishonest or mean act, and 
one whom a dishonest or mean man would not approach. 
College life is, in some respects, a severe test of character. 
False notions of honor often prevail among students, so that, 
under sanction of " college custom," things are sometimes 
done by young men which they would scorn to do in other 
jDlaces. There was a manliness and honesty about General 
Garfield that gave him power to see and do what was for his 
own good and the honor of the college. His life as a student 
was pure and noble. His moral and religious character and 
marked intellectual ability gave great promise of success in the 
world. His course since he entered active life has seemed to 
move on in the same line in which he moved here. He has been 
distinguished for hard work, clear insight into great questions 
of public interest, strong convictions and manly courage. 

The class of 1856 contained among its forty-two 



HIS COLLEGE CLASSMATES. gg 

members a number of men who have since won 
distinction. Three became general officers in the 
volunteer army during the rebellion — Garfield, 
Daviess and Thompson. Two, Bolter and Shat- 
tuck, were captains, and were killed in battle; 
Eldridge, who now lives in Chicago, was a colonel ; 
so was Ferris Jacobs of Delhi, N. Y. ; Rockwell is 
a quartermaster in the regular army; Gilfillan is 
Treasurer of the United States. Hill was at one 
time Assistant Attorney-General and is now a law- 
yer in Boston. Knox is a leading lawyer in New 
York. Newcombe is a professor in the Univer- 
sity of New York. 

Of the classmates of Garfield, Hon. C. H. Hill, 
Rev. J. K. Hazen, Rev. John Tatlock, S. P. Hub- 
bell, Lavalette Wilson, Elijah Cutter, Rev. E. N. 
Manley and Rev. E. C. Smith joined in letters to 
Colonel Rockwell — after Garfield's nomination — 
recalling the lights and shadows of his career at 
Williams, as they remembered them. Subjoined 
are these letters. Hon. C. H. Hill wrote this: 

33 School Street, Boston, June 23d, 1880. 
I think at that time he was paying great attention to Ger- 
man, and devoted all his leisure time to that language. In 
his studies, his taste was rather for metaphysical and philoso- 
phical studies than for history and biography, which were the 
studies most to my liking, but he read besides a good deal of 
poetry and general literature. Tennyson was then, and has 
ever been since, one of his favorite authors ; and I remember, 
too, when Hiawatha was published, how greatly he admired 
it, and how he would quote almost pages of it in our walks 



JOO THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

together. He was also greatly interested in Charles Kingsley's 
writings, particularly in Alton Locke and Yeast. I first, I 
think, introduced him to Dickens and gave him Oliver Twist 
to read, and he roared with laughter over Mr. Bumble. 

We belonged to the Philologian Society, one of the two great 
literary societies of the college, and it was at his suggestion 
that I attended its weekly meetings regularly, and almost 
always took part in the debate. I think he was considered 
our best debater, although we had several who were very good. 
Garfield had always been a Whig of the Seward and Wade 
school, and until the organization of the Republican Party, 
in 1856, men with his opinions, during our college days, were 
in a sort of political limbo, for he would have nothing to do 
with the Know-Nothing Party, which then seemed to be 
carrying everything before it, and attracted large numbers of 
young men, but whose principles he strongly condemned, and 
he had no liking, of course, for the Democracy. The great 
political questions of the day — the treatment of Kansas, the 
dangers from the influx of foreigners and from the Roman 
Catholic Church, the constitutionality of Personal Liberty 
Bills, the Crimean war, and the desirability of an elective 
',udiciary — were eagerly debated in the Philologian, and he 
invariably took part, except during the period when he was 
President of the society. Two members of the Convention 
at Chicago which nominated him for President were active 
members of the society, Mr. W. S. B. Hopkins, of Wor- 
".ester, Massachusetts, and our classmate. General Ferris 
Jacobs, of Delhi, N. Y. Other prominent debaters were the 
lamented Dr. Dimmock, of Adams Academy, Quincy ; ex- 
Senator Hitchcock, of Nebraska; E. L. Lincoln (now de- 
ceased) ; S. B. Forbes, and Charles MarsTi, of the Class of 
1855, and Charles S. Halsey, Edward Clarence Smith, C. D. 
Wilber, and others whom I do not now recall, of our own 
class. In all these debates, I should say he was distinguished 
for moderation — not always, perhaps, in expression, but in 
vpinion. His instincts were conservative. I remember dis- 



LETTERS FROM CLASSMATES. jqi 

tinctly that he was, when he came to college, a fervent 
supporter of the elective judiciary, but in preparing himself 
to take part in a debate on the subject, he studied himself 
over to the opposite side of the question, and began his 
speech by frankly admitting that he had within a week 
entirely changed his opinions on this subject. 

In 1879 ^^ "^^^ appointed Assistant Attorney-General of 
the United States, and for five winters my rooms were in the 
same street with Garfield's house at Washington, and but a 
few doors from it, and either at his house, or at the Capitol, 
I saw him almost daily. I think, in college, he looked for- 
ward rather to a professional and judicial career than to a 
political one, but I perceived that his intellectual growth since 
he left college, had been a steady and consistent expansion of 
what he was as a young man. His political opinions, as they 
showed themselves in our conversations, were what they ap- 
pear, I think, in his speeches — broad and conservative — those 
of a party man who, however, looks beyond party, and of a 
practical statesman who deals with existing facts, and does 
the best with them, rather than those of a political doctrinaire. 
His consistent and unflinching support of honest money, and 
constant enforcement of the duty of maintaining the national 
honor by paying the creditor according to his contract, re- 
minds me of one trait in his character. Although a poor boy, 
and very poor man in college, and although he has been com- 
paratively poor ever since, I never perceived in him the slight- 
est tincture of bitterness or envy toward those who were better 
off than he was, or of dislike for the rich because they are rich. 
In my long intimate companionship with him, I am certain 
he would more than once have betrayed some such feeling 
had he entertained it, and I know I should have noticed and 
remembered it. At Washington, he was always delighted to 
see old college friends, and talk over college days, about 
which his memory is wonderfully retentive. Two other mem- 
bers of our class, Mr. Gilfillan, Treasurer of the United States, 
and Colonel Rockwell, resided in Washington at the time, 

9 



I02 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



and formed a nucleus for class meetings whenever an old 
classmate turned up. Toward Williams College he has al- 
ways entertained a most filial affection, and ever speaks with 
deep feelings of the benefits which he derived from his two 
years' residence there, and especially from the instruction and 
influence of Dr. Hopkins, the President, who, during his 
thirty years' tenure of that office, impressed himself as 
strongly upon the young men under his charge as any college 
instructor the country has ever seen, and who has old pupils 
on the Supreme Bench of the United States, in both Houses 
of Congress, and in other positions of trust and influence 
throughout the land. 

I remain your obedient servant, 

Clement Hugh Hill. 

The Rev. James K. Hazen wrote : 

Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 
looi Main Street, 
Richmond, Va., June 2 2d, 1880. 

The warm personal regard and affection I have for Gar- 
field lead me to respond with alacrity, though I fear I can 
furnish you little that will be valuable for the purpose which 
you have in view. 

We expected much of Garfield when in college, and pre- 
dicted for him a seat in Congress within less than ten years 
of his graduation (he reached it in seven), but, so far as I 
know, our class prophecies did not point to a Presidential 
candidacy ; if they had, our memoranda would doubtless 
have been very full. 

It was my privilege to board at the same table with Garfield 
during our Senior year, and I have a very vivid recollection 
of our daily conversations upon the various subjects of study 
that engaged our attention, but particularly upon the Shorter 
Catechism. 

It was the custom then, and perhaps is still, in old Williams, 



LE TTERS FR OM CLASSMA TES. j q 3 

for the Senior Class to devote Saturday morning to an exer- 
cise in that time-honored standard of the Calvinistic faith, 
under the instructions of President Hopkins, and, though 
holding a different type of theology, none of our class entered 
into the study more heartily than Garfield. It suited his 
metaphysical turn of mind. 

In the discussions that followed, as we went from the class- 
room to our dinner-table, I was always impressed with the 
keenness of his criticisms, though my faith in the old Cate- 
chism and its doctrines was not shaken, and with the straight- 
forward fairness and the hearty respect which he accorded to 
views which he utterly refused to accept. It occurs to me 
that in this we have a characteristic feature of the man, which 
has more than once been prominently manifested in his po- 
litical career. 

The occurrance of the last few days have recalled to my 
mind very vividly the beginning of the campaign of 1856, 
twenty-four years ago. The first Presidential candidate of 
the Republican Party, John C. Fremont, was nominated 
shortly before our graduation. A college ratification meet- 
ing was held, on receipt of the news, and, among others of 
the Senior Class, Garfield spoke. Probably this* was his first 
Republican speech, and I can testify that it was enthusiastic 
and eloquent. 

He had turned his attention to politics before this some- 
what, having delivered, on the occasion of the Adelphic 
Union Exhibition, 1855, a poem, entitled "Sam," which 
maybe found in Vol. III. No. i, page 25, of the Williams 
Quarterly. 

Of the heartiness and cheeriness of his manner as a friend 
and companion, I have the pleasantest recollections, and I 
can recall nothing, whatever, that in the slightest degree mars 
this impression. 

Strong, however, as was my attachment to Garfield during 
our college life, it has been greatly strengthened by incidents 
that have since occurred. 



jQ. THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

It was my fortune to be the only one of my classmates on 
the losing side in the late war. Going South very soon after 
graduation, it has been my home ever since. In 1871 or 1872, 
some fifteen years from the time we graduated, business called 
me to Washington, and I found there several of my classmates 
and college acquaintances, occupying various positions of 
honor and responsibility, but none of them recognized me as 
I met them, and I was under the necessity of introducing my- 
self. Not so, however, with Garfield. On the morning of 
my arrival, a friend had given me a seat on the floor of the 
House at the opening of the session. Shortly afterward, 
Garfield came in from the opposite side of the hall, and 
approaching his desk, which happened to be just before the 
one I occupied, he recognized me the moment he entered, 
and greeted me at once with my old college nickname, ' ' Rex, ' ' 
I mention this as indicating the possession of one of those 
faculties which men of high position have found it necessary 
to cultivate. But what I designed to mention especially in 
connection with this, was the warm welcome I received to his 
home, and the many kindnesses experienced then and on 
subsequent occasions, many of them prompted, as I am dis- 
posed to think, by the very fact that I was regarded in the 
light of "an erring brother," 

Yours, very truly, 

Jas. K. Hazen. 

Next the Rev. John Tatlock : 

HoosiCK Falls, N. Y. , June 25th, 1880. 

Mr. Garfield displayed in college that perfect self-possess- 
ion, that entire command of his powers and of his mental 
resources, which afterward made him successful in the field, 
and a ready and powerful debater in Congress. 

Of his boldness and facility in turning to account vague 
scraps of information, which more timid men would fear to 
use, and which less able men could not use, I recall an illus- 
tration. 



LE TTERS FR OM CLASSMA TES. j q c 

In his junior year he was engaged in a public debate 
between representatives of the two literary societies. The 
speaker who preceded him on the opposite side produced an 
elaborate illustration from "Don Quixote." Garfield, in 
reply, raised a laugh against his opponent by comparing him 
to the knight attacking the windmill. " Or rather," said he, 
" it would be more appropriate to say that the gentleman re- 
sembles the ■windmill attacking the knight." 

At the supper following the debate, Garfield was rallied on 
his extensive acquaintance with the classics. He laughingly 
replied that he had never read " Don Quixote," and had 
heard only an allusion to the mad knight's assault upon the 
flying arms of the innocent mill. * * * 

To this I will only add that he was a man of a sweet, large 
and wholesome nature, and endeared himself the most to 
those who knew him best. 

Yours truly, 

John Tatlock, 
Classmate of General Garfield, and Co-Editor with him. 

This was followed by Mr. Silas P. Hubbell : 

Champlain, Clinton County, N. Y., June 28, 1880. 
Garfield entered our Junior Class in the Fall of '54. He 
brought with him from Ohio another student, Charles D. 
Wilbur, who joined our class at the same time, and between 
them there seemed to be a strong attachment. They roomed 
together in South College, and, as we termed it, were college 
chums. Wilbur unfortunately was lame and limped badly, 
and required the help of crutches or a stout cane. They were 
always together, and Garfield's kindness to his crippled chum 
was very noticeable. The pair in their daily walks to and 
from the recitation-rooms and about the college grounds ex- 
cited the eager gaze and curiosity of their fellow-students, 
from their quaint and odd appearance and evident unfami- 
liarity with college ways and doings. 



jq5 the life of president GARFIELD. 

iBesides, the contrast in the appearance of the couple was 
very striking — Garfield of large frame, looming up six feet 
high, strong and healthy, and looking like a backwoodsman, 
and Wilbur, with a pale, intellectual cast of countenance, 
limping along beside him. 

They made no attempt to conform to the ways and pecu- 
liarities of college life, or to ingratiate themselves with the 
students. They both seemed to be in dead earnest, striving 
to an education, and to be entirely engrossed in their studies 
and college duties. 

Their position at first was a very isolated and peculiar one, 
and which was somewhat enhanced by a whisper that soon 
circulated among the students that they were Campbellites. 
Now, what that meant, or what tenets the sect held, nobody 
seemed to know, but it was supposed to mean something very 
awful. But they continued on pursuing the even tenor of 
their way, unmoved by the stares and criticisms of their com- 
panions. After a time this feeling passed away, and Garfield, 
by his successful attainments and straightforward, manly 
course, commanded the respect and admiration of his class 
and of the whole college. 

College life, as everybody knows, is a world in miniature ; 
we had our elections, our debates, our caucuses, our anxieties, 
and ambitious desires. There were two large debating socie- 
ties in the college, one the Philologians, the other the Philo- 
technians, and a strong rivalry existed between the two socie- 
ties. Garfield joined the Philologian Society, and took 
great interest in its welfare. He very soon took prominence 
as a debater, and by his ready wit and intimate knowledge of 
the subject discussed, generally won his side of the case. He 
was a very hard student, and he never would speak or enter 
into the debate unless he had thoroughly mastered the subject 
beforehand. The subjects discussed in these meetings were 
of a varied character, but he always spoke on the side of 
right and freedom, and in behalf of the people and against 
oppression of all kinds. In October, 1855, in the public de- 



LETTERS FROM CLASSMATES. 



107 



bate between the two societies, held in the college chapel, 
he was one of the persons elected to represent his society in 
the debate. The subject for discussion was, "Was the 
Feudal System Beneficial?" The negative was supported by 
Garfield, and by his animated, earnest and convincing argu- 
ments, and enthusiastic denunciations of the oppressions of 
the system, he won the hearty applause of his auditory. At 
the beginning of the Senior year he was elected President of 
the Philologian Society by a large majority, and won the ad- 
miration of all by his knowledge of parliamentary tactics, 
and the ease and grace with which he presided over the as- 
sembly. 

At the commencement of Senior year, Garfield was elected 
one of the editors of the Williafus Quarterly, a periodical 
conducted by the students, and won an honorable distinction 
in our literary world by his contributions to the magazine. 
Some of his essays at the time were very noticeable, one in 
particular I now remember, entitled "The Province of 
History," which showed a depth of research and broad, far- 
reaching views as to the province of history which was not 
expected of an undergraduate at college. This article ap- 
peared in the number for June, 1856, and placed Grafield at 
the front in regard to literary attainments. 

Garfield early joined the Mills Theological Society, which 
represented some of the best men in college. They held 
meetings every week, had a very fine library, embraced among 
their members a great deal of the best culture and talent in 
the college. It was unsectarian in character, and wielded a 
powerful influence for good over the whole college. 

Garfield successively filled the offices of Librarian and 
President of the society, and by his urbanity, innate kindli- 
ness of nature, and good sound judgment in the manage- 
ment of its affairs, won the respect and esteem of all its mem- 
bers. Garfield was quiet and undemonstrative in his religious 
habits. There was no cant about him. But he impressed all 
with his deep sincerity and honesty of purpose. He lived the 
life of a true Christian. 



IQg THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

I well remember commencement day at "Old Williams," 
when our class graduated. Garfield took one of the highest 
honors of his class, called the metaphysical oration. The 
subject of his oration was " Matter and Spirit." The audience 
were wonderfully impressed with his oratory, and at the close 
there was a wild tumult of applause, and a showering d<)wn 
upon him of beautiful bouquets of flowers by the ladies, a most 
fitttng end to his arduous, self-denying college course and a 
bright augury for the future. 

I remain respectfully yours, 

Silas P. Hubbell. 

Mr. Lavalette Wilson wrote : 

Haverstraw, N. Y., June 28th, 1S80. 

Mr. Garfield even then showed that magnetic power which 
he now exhibits in a remarkable degree in public life, of sur- 
rounding himself with men of various talents, and of em- 
ploying each to the best advantage in his sphere. When 
questions for discussion arose in the college societies, Garfield 
would give each of his allies a point to investigate ; books 
and documents from all the libraries would be overhauled, 
and the mass of facts thus obtained being brought together, 
Garfield would analyze the whole, assign each of his associates 
his part, and they would go into the battle to conquer. He 
was always in earnest and persistent in carrying his point, 
often against apparently insurmountable obstacles, and in 
college election contests (which are often more intense than 
national elections) he was always successful. 

He showed perfect uprightness of character, was religious 
without cant or austerity, and his influence for good was 
widely felt. I never heard an angry word or hasty expression, 
or a sentence which needed to be recalled. He possessed 
equanimity of temper, self-possession, and self-control in the 
highest degree. What is more, I never heard a profane or 
improper word or an indelicate allusion from his lips. He 
was in habit, speech and example a pure man. 



LETTERS FROM CLASSMATES. jqq 

Arising, some may say, from his own early struggles, but, as 
I believe, from his native nobility of character, was his 
sympathy for the suffering, or depressed, or humble. He 
would find out their wishes and desires, their best points, and 
where their ability lay, and encourage them to advancement 
and^uccess. Not even now has he any of that inapproacha- 
bility and hauteur which too often accompany great talents 
and high position. He is a democrat in the highest sense of 
the word ; no matter how humble a position a person may 
hold, how unfashionably dressed, how countrified in appear- 
ance, or lacking in knowledge of the usages of polite society, 
he will feel at ease in Mr. Garfield's presence, and receive the 
same courtesy and probably greater attention than would the 
Prince of Wales. 

On entering Williams College, Mr. Garfield was uncom- 
mitted in national politics; perhaps his first lesson came from 
John Z. Goodrich, who at that time represented in Congress 
the Western district of Massachusetts. In the fall of 1855 
Mr. Goodrich delivered a political address in Williamstown 
on the history of the Kansas-Nebraska struggle, and the ef- 
forts of the handful of Republicans then in Congress to de- 
feat the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. As Mr. Good- 
rich spoke, I sat at Garfield's side, and saw him drink in every 
word. He said, as we passed out, "This subject is entirely 
new to me. I am going to know all about it." He sent for 
documents, studied them till he became perfectly familiar 
with the history of the anti-slavery struggle, and from that 
hour has been the thorough Republican, the champion of 
right against injustice, that he is at this houi 

Lavalette Wilson. 

So, too, Mr. Elijah Cutter: 

Boston, June 30th, 18S0. 
He had a robust physique and an open countenance. There 
was no stint in his make-up, and no "style," no assumed 
gentility, but much of "nature's nobleman" about him. 



J jQ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

He was a little in advance of the average class age, and 
had an exuberant growth of hair, while his maturity of thought 
and expression, not unmixed with ''Westernisms," chal- 
lenged our attention, Yet in all youthful feelings and im- 
pulses he was as truly a boy as any in the class. His un- 
studied and often unskillful handling of himself was always 
accompanied by real delicacy of feeling and mental adroit- 
ness and aptitudes. Garfield's greatness was to our young 
eyes enigmatical, but it was real. There was a good deal of 
htm — body, soul and spirit. Nature had not defaulted in his 
make-up, and his talents were of the popular order. 

That a serious purpose brought Garfield to college, and how 
bent he was on accomplishing it, none who knew him in daily 
life could doubt. He accomplished much and aspired to 
more, not alone in class studies but in other and varied ac- 
quirements. He read much of history and poetry. He was 
passionately fond of Shakespeare, and gave to debates and 
other optional literary exercises much attention. 

I think most, if not all of our class will remember Garfield 
pleasantly for his companionable traits. Not in the ordinary 
sense a "hail-fellow well met," he had that genial tempera- 
ment which readily drew others about him. Who among the 
men of 1856 does not recall among the picturesque memo- 
ries of East College, that of Garfield sitting on the fence or 
rolling at full length on the campus, convulsed with some 
newly-fledged joke, or apt nickname, or droll personation, or 
college yarn? There were a few fine specimens of nimble 
wits in the class, of which Garfield might not be reckoned 
one, but none more ready to appreciate and perpetuate the 
college humor than he, and in all that goes to maintain the 
recreative and sporting life among young men he was promi- 
nent. 

I should like to speak of Garfield in his religious nature, 
and of those high moral convictions which rendered him 
conspicuous in college, not less than in his public career 
since, and of some deep struggles he went through while 



LETTERS FROM CLASSMATES, j j j 

weighing the question of entering upon politics as a pro- 
fession. Some of these experiences would exhibit Garfield in 
a true light, if the boy is but the father of the man. But I 
fear I should trespass both upon his confidence and your space. 
I am, sir, yours very respectfully, 

Elijah Cutter. 

The Rev. E. N. Manley thus remembered him : 

Camden, N. Y., July 8th, 1880. 

Garfield played chess with interest and success. The game 
becoming fascinating, threatening study hours, and finally 
carrying him once or twice near to, if not over into, the small 
hours of night, he said, "This won't do," and stopped short 
off. 

We used to have an annual holiday called " Mountain- 
Day." At the close of one, a Fourth of July evening, on 
the summit of old "Greylock," seven miles from college, 
there was a goodly gathering of students about their camp- 
fire, when GarfieW, the recognized leader, taking a copy of 
the New Testament from his pocket, said, " Boys, I am 
accustomed to read a chapter with my absent mother every 
night ; shall I read aloud ? " All assenting, he read to us 
the chapter his mother in Ohio was then reading, and called 
on a classmate to pray. 

I think it was at the breaking-up meeting of the class, at 
graduation, that, being called up for a speech, he said, ^^ gar 
is a Greek preposition, meaning/^r. Gar-field, for-the-field. 
That is what I suppose I am. ' ' 

E, N. Manley, Pastor Presbyterian Church. 

And last, but not least, of his mates, the Rev.. 
Edward Clarence Smith: 

My Dear Old Friend and Classmate : I thank you for 
your kind letter of the loth inst. I joy and rejoice with you. 
H 



J J 2 THE LIFE @F PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

I am glad to hear from one who so thoroughly appreciates 
the great power and worth of our honored and beloved Gar- 
field. What you say of his mental growth and maturing 
powers I fully endorse. In sheer force and reach of faculty, 
in breadth of thought and culture, I believe he is the peer of 
the best man in America to-day. But what seems grander to 
me is his unswerving loyalty to conscience, to truth, and to 
his country's good ; in a word, his magnificent manliness. 

I sincerely believe that there are times in the history of 
such countries as ours when God makes special use of such 
men. In this scientific age, persons do not like to hear the 
word Providefice. But there seem to be certain superhuman 
arrangements and adjustments that philosophy cannot explain, 
and that work out righteous results. Human ingenuity does 
not devise them ? human wisdom does not foresee them. I 
call it the insertion of a Divine factor in history. It does not 
compel the human will ; it does not destroy personal freedom ; 
but it does achieve its results with resistless might, and with 
infallible certainty. What think you of a thcologico-philoso- 
phico-mathcmatical formula like this ? aXb=c, in which 
"a" is man's freedom, intact, but finite ; "b," a divinely 
inserted factor, unlimited; "c," the providential plan of 
God in the issue of things. Thus freedom is saved, and the 
ends of eternal rightness achieved. But, mathematics and 
metaphysics aside, it seems to me that our friend has often 
come near that holy place, where Providence touches the 
machinery which weaves out the plans of history, and, 
doubtless often, without being personally conscious of it. 

There are but few sincere souls that are deemed worthy of 
such honor : " Fauci qucs ccquus ainavit Jupiter, aut ardcns 
enexit ad icthera virtus.'' They are never self-seekers. They 
work where they are placed. Like yEneas, in the fable, they 
are often covered with a cloud woven by Divine fingers, and 
the mass do not see them. But, when they are needed, the 
cloud breaks away ; they are known of men, and are sum- 
moned to do God's work, sometimes against their will. 



LETTERS FROM CLASSMATES. j j ^ 

Washington was such a man, Lincoln was another, and I sin- 
cerely believe Garfield is a third. Such men can be known 
by their utter unselfishness, the-r inherent nobility of charac- 
ter, and always by their unconsciousness of themselves. Such 
men invariably impress their generation with a sense of their 
personality. To how many millions is Lincoln thoroughly 
known, though few have ever seen him ? The great heart of 
humanity recognizes such men, when they pass, by a kind of 
divinely-implanted instinct. 

I have long felt that General Garfield was divinely intenderi 
to supply important links in the chain of our country's his- 
tory. I have therefore anticipated, with you, his election to 
the Presidency. One of my friends reminded me to-day 
that just one year ago I showed him the photograph of Gen- 
eral Garfield as that of the next President. I have little 
doubt of his success. You may have seen a storm-cloud 
move over the earth, and gain all the electric forces along its 
course into affinity with it, so that the lightning of the earth 
runs to meet the lightning of the cloud ; so in case of a di- 
vinely-chosen man ; he carries in his great heart all the in- 
stincts, hopes and aspirations of an age. When he appears 
and comes near to men, the love and acclaim of a nation run 
to meet him. There is, in my opinion, no doubt of our hon- 
ored friend's success. He cannot appear, but the people will 
know him. Did you observe this at Chicago ? The machin- 
ery was well forged, riveted and clamped, air-tight and fire- 
proof. But the popular will burst the bonds, as though 
withes of straw. To change the figure, it seemed to be a 
case of spontaneous combustion. The party engines played, 
but the fires nwuld burst through chink and crevice. Finally 
the galleries caught fire, and everything went. 

Wasn't it grand to see our friend stand by Sherman, with 
heroic loyalty, to the last, protesting against the use of his 
name, and fearing nothing so much as disloyalty to manliness 
and friendship? A few words of prophecy : The galleries 
at Chicago caught fire, as we know. I foresee that the flames 
lO 



J I ^ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

will sweep like a prairie fire over the continent; burning to 
the very edge of the St. Lawrence ; to the surges that break 
upon Plymouth Rock ; and even to the melancholy murmurs 
of the great western sea. 

* * * God bless you, my dear fellow. Remember me 
affectionately to our honored and loved friend, when you see 
him ; and, though he may never hear from me again, inas- 
much as he is now likely to swing out of my horizon, yet tell 
him I glory in his achievement for good, and shall ever wish 
him God-speed ! 

Cordially and affectionately yours, 

Edward Clarence Smith. 

During Garfield's last term at Williams he 
made his first political speech before a meeting 
gathered in one of the class-rooms to support the 
nomination of John C. Fremont. Although he 
had passed his majority nearly four years before, 
he had never voted. The old parties did not in- 
terest him ; he believed that both were corrupted 
with the sin of slavery; but when a new party 
arose to combat the designs of the slave-power, 
it enlisted his earnest sympathies. His mind was 
free from all bias concerning the parties and 
statesmen of the past, and could equally admire 
Clay or Jackson, Webster or Benton. 

He was, and still Is, particularly fond of his 
Alma Mater. Two letters, the first to Colonel 
Rockwell, the second to B. A. Hinsdale, furnish 
us a happy glimpse of this well-bestowed aftec- 
tion. 



GARFIELD 'S COLLEGE REMLNISCENCES. j j t 

Hiram, Ohio, August 13th, i 66. 
My Dear Jarvis: My visit to Williams has washed out the 
footprints of ten years and made me a boy again. Strolling 
on the shore of life, it is with reluctance that I plunge back 
again iAto the noisy haunts of men. The noble re-union has 
wedded my heart more than ever to the class and to old 
Williams. Let us not hereafter cease to pay that reverence 
which is due to youth. I mean to go back to Williams as 
often as I can. The place and its associations shall be to me 
a fountain of perpetual youth. If wrinkles must be written 
upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. 
The spirit should not grow old. 

Washington, June 30th, 1872. 

After spending all the day Monday on the law case in 
Cleveland, I took the train for Williamstown, which I reached 
in the evening; stayed throughout the examination until Fri- 
day morning. The exercises were very solemn and im- 
pressive. The resignation of Dr. Hopkins was a noble 
act and the final speech in which he delivered up the keys to 
his successor was one of the rarest grandeur and simplicity. 
His first paragraph was this: " Why do I resign? First, 
that I may not be asked why I do not resign. Second, be- 
cause I believe in the law of averages, and the average man 
of seventy is not able to bear the burdens of this Presidency. 
And yet I can now bear it. Many of my friends think I 
should continue to bear it. I think it safer to test the law of 
averages. " 

I stayed with Dr. Hopkins as his guest, and it was very 
touching when the old President bade me good-bye, saying, 
** You will observe that I reserve for the concluding and final 
act of my official life, before laying down the ofiice, the con- 
ferring upon you of the degree of LL.D. I was glad to have 
my work thus associated with your name. 



CHAPTER VII. 



A COLLEGE PRESIDENT. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD left the venerable 
dome of Williams, and went directly to his 
Ohio home, to take a higher step in his hard- 
won career. He entered Hiram College In the 
fall of 1856 as the professor of ancient languages 
and literature. The next year, at the age of 
twenty-six, he was made the president of the insti- 
tution. This office he held until he went into the 
army In 1861. Hoping that he might return — un- 
willing to part even with his name — the board 
kept him nominally at the head two years longer. 
Then his name disappeared from the catalogue, 
except in 1864 and 1865, when It re-appeared as 
a trustee, and as advisory principal and lecturer. 
His last service as an Instructor was an admirable 
series of ten lectures on " Social Science," given 
In the spring of 1871. 

Hiram had not much Improved, during Gar- 
field's absence at Williams. It was a lonesome 
country village, three miles from a railroad, built 
upon a high hill, overlooking twenty miles of 
cheese-making country to the southward. It con- 
tained fifty or sixty houses clustered around the 
green, in the centre of which stood the homely 

("6) 




^^^mmm 



PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLIEGE. j jg 

red-brick college structure. Plain living and high 
thinking were the order of things in those days. 
The teachers were poor ; the pupils were poor ; 
and the institution was poor ; but a great deal of 
hard, faithful study was done, and many coura- 
geous plans formed. 

The young president was ambitious for the suc- 
cess of the institution. There probably never was 
a younger college president; but he carried his 
new position remarkably well, and brought to it 
energy, vigor and good sense, which are the main- 
springs of his character. Under his supervision, 
the attendance at Hiram soon doubled. He raised 
its standard of scholarship, strengthened its faculty, 
and inspired everybody connected with it with his 
own zeal and enthusiasm. At that time the lead- 
ing Hiram men were called Philomatheans, from 
the society, to which they belonged. Henry James, 
an old Philomathean, mentioning recently the 
master-spirits of that time, thus referred to the 
president: 

» 
Then began to grow up in me an admiration and love for 
Garfield that has never abated, and the like of which I have 
never known. A bow of recognition, or a single word from 
him, was to me an inspiration. 

The young president taught, lectured and 
preached, and all the time studied as diligently 
as any acolyte in the temple of knowledge. His 
scholars all regarded him with respect, admiration 



120 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



and affection. His greatness as a teacher and 
administrator lay, not so much in his technical 
scholarship, his drillmaster teaching, and his 
schoolmaster discipline, as in energizing young 
men and women. He stimulated thought, aroused 
courage, stiffened the moral fibre, poured in inspi- 
ration, widened the field of mental vision, and cre- 
ated a noble ideal of life and character. He was 
more than a teacher and administrator; the stu- 
dent found him a helper and friend. 

A notable instance of this is on record. The 
present president of Hiram College, B. A, Hins- 
dale was greatly troubled during the winter of 
1856-57, about the questions of life. He wrote 
to Garfield for relief. Garfield's reply was as 
follows : 

Hiram, January 15th, 1857. 
My Dear Bro. Burke : — I was made very glad a few days 
since by the receipt of your letter. It was a very acceptable 
New Year's present, and I take great pleasure in responding. 
You have given a vivid picture of a community in which in- 
telligence and morality have, been neglected — and I am glad 
you are disseminating the light. Certainly, men must have 
some knowledge in order to do right. God first said, " Let 
there be light. ' ' Afterward He said, " It is very good. ' ' I am 
glad to hear of your success in teaching ; but I approach with 
much more interest the consideration of the question you 
have proposed. Brother mine, it is not a question to be dis- 
cussed in the spirit of debate, but to be thought over and 
prayed over as a question " out of which are the issues of life." 
You will agree with me that every one must decide and direct 
his own course in life, and the only service friends can afford 



A FRIEND ANP COUNSELOR. I2i 

is to give us the data, from which we must draw our own con- 
clusion and decide our course. Allow me, then, to sit beside 
you and look over the field of life and see what are its aspects. 
I am not one of those who advise every one to undertake the 
work of a liberal education ; indeed, I believe that in two- 
thirds of the cases, such advice would be unwise. The great 
body of the people will be, and ought to be, intelligent farmers 
and mechanics, and in many respects these pass the most in- 
dependent and happy lives. But God has endowed some of 
His children with desires and capabilities for a more extended 
field of labor and influence, and so every life should be shaped 
according to "what the man hath." Now, in reference to 
yourself. / /(v/fze/ you have capabilities for occupying posi- 
tions of high and important trust in the scenes of active life ; 
and I am sure you will not call it flattery in me, nor egotism 
in yourself, to say so. Tell me, Burke, do you not feel a 
spirit stirring within you that longs to know, to do and to dare 
to hold converse with the great world of thought, and hola 
before you some high and noble object, to which the vigor of 
your mind and the strength of your arm may be given ? Do 
you not have longings like these, which you breathe to no 
one, and which you feel must be heeded, or you will pass 
through life unsatisfied and regretful ? I am sure you have 
them, and they will forever cling round your heart, till you 
obey their mandate. They are the voice of that nature, which 
God has given you, and which, when obeyed, will bless you 
and your fellow-men. Now, all this might be true, and yet it 
might be your duty not to follow that course. If your duty 
to your father or your mother demands that you take another, 
I shall rejoice to see you taking that other course. The path 
of duty is where we all ought to walk, be that where it may. 
But I sincerely hope you will not, without an earnest struggle, 
give up a course of liberal study. Suppose you could not be- 
gin your study again till after your majority ? It will not be 
too late then, but you will gain in many respects ; you will 
have more maturity of mind to appreciate whatever you may 



122 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

study. You may say you will be too old to begin the course, 
but how could you spend the earlier days of life ? We should 
not measure life by the days and moments that we pass on 
earth. 

"The life is measured by the soul's advance; 
The enlargement of its powers;* the expanded field 
Wherein it ranges, till it burns and glows 
With heavenly joy, with high and heavenly hope," 

It need be no discouragement, that you are obliged to hew 
your own way, and pay your own charges. You can go to 
school two terms every year, and pay your own way. I know 
this, for I did so, when teachers' wages were much lower than 
they are now. It is a great truth, that "where there is a will 
there is a way." It may be that by and by your father could 
assist you. It may be that even now he could let you com- 
mence on your resources, so that you could begin imme- 
diately. Of this you know, and I do not. I need not tell 
you how glad I should be to assist you in your work ; but if 
you cannot come to Hiram while I am here, I shall still hope 
to hear that you are determined to go on as soon as the time 
vdll permit. Will you not write me your thoughts on this 
whole subject, and tell me your prospects? We are having a 
very good time in the school this winter. Give my love to 
Polden and Louise, and believe me always your friend and 
brother, J. A. Garfield. 

P. S. — Miss Booth and Mr. Rhodes send their love to 
you. Henry James was here and made me a good visit a few 
days ago. He is doing well. He and I have talked of going 
to see you this winter. I fear we cannot do it. How far is 
it from here? Burke, was it prophetic that my last word to 
you ended on the picture of the Capitol of Congress? 

J. A. G. 

The sigfnlficance of the last sentence is seen, 
when it is understood, that it was written on a 



DESCRIBED BY A PUPIL. j 2 "^ 

sheet of Congress note paper, and the last words 
covered the Httle picture of the capitol, which 
adorns its upper left-hand corner. 

A pleasant picture of his methods and manners 
is drawn from another source — the recollections 
of an old pupil, the Rev. J. F. Darsie. He pictures 
Garfield graphically. 

I attended school at the Western Reserve Eclectic Insti- 
tute when Garfield was principal, and I recall vividly his 
method of teaching. He took very kindly to me, and assisted 
me in various ways, because I was poor and was janitor of the 
buildings, and swept them out in the morning and built the 
fires — as he had done only six years before, when he was a 
pupil at the same school. He was full of animal spirits, and 
he used to run out on the green almost every day and play 
cricket with us. He was a tall, strong man, but dreadfully 
awkward. Every now and then he would get a hit on the 
nose, and he muffed his ball and lost his hat as a regular 
thing. He was left-handed, too, and that made him seem 
all the more clumsy. But he was most powerful and very 
quick, and it was easy for us to understand how it was that he 
had acquired the reputation of whipping all the other mule- 
drivers on the canal, and of making himself the hero of that 
thoroughfare when he followed its tow-path ten years earlier. 

No matter how old the pupils were, Garfield always called 
us by our first names, and kept himself on the most familiar 
terms with all. He played with us freely, scuffled with us 
sometimes, walked with us in walking to and fro, and we 
treated him out of the class-room just about as we did one 
another. Yet he was a most strict disciplinarian, and enforced 
the rules like a martinet. He combined an affectionate and 
confiding manner with respect for order in a most successful 
manner. If he wanted to speak to a pupil, either for reproof 
or approbation, he would generally manage to get one arm 



I 24 '^^^^ Z//"^ OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

around him and draw him close up to him. He had a pecu- 
liar way of shaking hands, too, giving a twist to your arm and 
drawing you right up to him. This sympathetic manner has 
helped him to advancement. When I was janitor, he used 
sometimes to stop me and ask my opinion about this and that, 
as if seriously advising with me. I can see now that my 
opinion could not have been of any value, and that he prob- 
ably asked me partly to increase my self-respect, and partly 
to show me that he felt an interest in me. I certainly was his 
friend all the firmer for it. 

I remember once asking him what was the best way to 
pursue a certain study, and he said : " Use several text-books. 
Get the views of different authors as you advance. In that 
way you can plow a broader furrow. I always study in that 
way. " He tried hard to teach us to observe carefully and ac- 
curately. He broke out one day in the midst of a lesson with 
" Henry, how many posts are there under the building down- 
stairs ? ' ' Henry expressed his opinion, and the question went 
around the class, hardly one getting it right. Then it was : 
" How many boot-scrapers are there at the door? " " How 
many windows in the building? " " How many trees in the 
field? " "What were the colors of different rooms, and the 
peculiarities of any familiar objects?" He was the keenest 
observer I ever saw. I think he noticed and numbered every 
button on our coats. 

Mr. Girfield was very fond of lecturing to the school. 
He spoke two or three times a week, on all manner of topics, 
generally scientific, though sometimes literary or historical. 
He spoke with great freedom, never writing out what he had 
to say, and I now think that his lectures were a rapid compi- 
lation of his current reading, and that he threw it into this 
form partly for the purpose of impressing it on his own mind. 
His facility of speech was learned when he was a pupil there. 
The societies had a rule that every student should take his 
stand on the platform and speak for five minutes, on any topic 
suggested at the moment by the audience. It was a very 



HIS PREACHING. 



125 



trying ordeal. Garfield broke down badly the two first times 
he tried to speak, but persisted, and was at last, when he 
went to Williams, one of the best of the five-minute speakers. 
When he returned as principal his readiness was striking and 
remarkable. 

As President of the Institute, Garfield very 
naturally appeared on the platform on every pub- 
lic occasion, The Church of the Disciples, as be- 
fore stated, like the Society of Friends, is accus- 
tomed to accord large privileges of speaking to 
its laity ; and so it came to be expected, that Presi- 
dent Garfield should address his pupils on Sun- 
days, briefly, when ministers of the Gospel were, 
to preach ; more at length, when no one else was 
present to conduct the services. The remarks of 
the young president were always forcible, and 
generally eloquent ; and the community presently 
began to regard him as its foremost public 
speaker, putting him forward on every occasion, 
and hearing him with attention on every subject. 
His pupils also helped to swell his reputation and 
the admiration for his talents. 

His larcre brain was stored with information al- 
ways at his command; he was fluent without being 
verbose ; and he had in an unusual degree the 
happy quality of clearness. This, added to his 
commanding presence and effective delivery, 
caused him to be sought for on all public occa- 
sions. His sincerity, his unblemished character, 
and his eloquence were well known, not only in 
II 



J 2 5 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the region where he Hved, but throughout the 
State; and the announcement that Mr. Garfield 
was to appear in the pulpit anywhere, always drew 
a ofreat crowd. 

He remained at Hiram, as has been said, until 
the war called him away ; and steadily refused all 
efforts to induce him to desert the institution, for 
whose welfare he had done so much. In March, 
1861, he was offered the place of vice-principal of 
the Cleveland Institute, at a salary of fifteen 
hundred dollars a year. To the offer he returned 
this reply: 

I am very much obliged to you for your kind offer, but 
you would not want to employ me for a short time, and I feel 
it my duty to say that some of my friends have got the insane 
notion in their heads that I ought to go to Congress. I know 
I am not fit for the position, and I have fought against it all I 
could. I know nothing about political wire-pulling, and I 
have told my friends plainly that I would have nothing to do 
with that kind of business, but I am sure that I can be nomi- 
nated and elected without resorting to any unlawful means, 
and I have lately given authority to allow my name to be used. 
I don't know that anything will come of it; if there does 
not, I will gladly accept your offer. 

During his term as president of Hiram, he con- 
tinued the study of law, and was admitted to the 
bar of Cuyahoga County in i860. He also paid 
some attention to Masonry, into which order he 
was initiated. He was not, however, a very active 
member, though he took a number of degrees. 
VvHien he was in the army, so many of his regi- 



LUCRETIA RUDOLPH. 



127 



ment were Masons, that they organized a lodge, 
which he joined to please them. He was a charter 
member of Pentalpha Lodge, No. 23, and a mem- 
ber of Columbia Chapter, No. i, Columbia Com- 
mandery, No. 2, and Mithras Lodge of Perfection, 
A. and A. Rite, all of Washington. 

With this last mention. President Garfield 
dropped from the record of educational histor)^ in 
this country-, and took his place in the procession 
of figures, that stand silhouetted against our 
national horizon, as the men who made and saved 
our country. The mature teacher was trans- 
formed into the youthful statesman. Before we 
follow him on the stormy sea of politics, we must 
relate an incident, that proved the happiest of his 
life. In his earlier days, when a pupil, he met, as 
related, a sweet-faced girl named Lucretia Ru- 
dolph. She was the daughter of a Maryland 
farmer, Zebulon Rudolph, from the banks of the 
Shenandoah. The uncle of this man served with 
distinguished braver}' in the war of the Revolu- 
tion. After sheathing his sword here, he went to 
France to draw it in the service of the great Na- 
poleon, and rose to be, so says a cherished tradi- 
tion in the Rudolph family, that brilliant soldier, 
Michel, Duke of Elchingen, Marshal Ney. Zebu- 
lon Rudolph's wife, of an old Connecticut family, 
was Arabella Mason of Hartford, Vermont. This 
was Lucretia Rudolph's parentage. 

When Garfield first met her as a fellow-student 
I 



J 28 ^-^-^ L^P^ 0^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

at Hiram, she was a refined, intelligent, affection- 
ate girl, who shared his thirst for knowledge and 
his ambition for culture, and had, at the same 
time, the domestic tastes and talents, which fitted 
her to preside equally over the home of the 
poor college-professor and that of the famous 
statesman. A Hiram poet, celebrating the La- 
dies' Literary Society of the college in verse, thus 
sang: 

"Again a Mary? Nay, Lucretia, 

The noble, classic name 
That well befits our fair ladie, 

Our sweet and gentle dame, 
With heart as leal and loving 

As e'er was sung in lays 
Of high-born Roman matron, 

In old, heroic days; 
Worthy her lord illustrious, whom 

Honor and fame attend ; 
Worthy her soldier's name to wear, 
Worthy the civic wreath to share 
That binds her Viking's tawny hair; 
Right proud are we the world should know 
As hers, him we long ago 

Found truest helper, friend." 

When Garfield entered Williams, Miss Rudolph 
went to Cleveland to teach in the public schools 
and to wait patiently the realization of their hopes. 
They planned to be married, as soon after his 
graduation as he became established in life. Ac- 
cordingly, in 1858, shortly after he was made 
President of Hiram, they were married. A neat, 
little cottage fronting the college campus, was 



MRS. GARFIELD AS A STUDENT. j -^g 

bought, and the wedded life begun, poor In worldly 
goods, but wealthy in the affection of brave hearts. 
The match was a love-match, which resulted very 
happily. The general attributed much of his suc- 
cess in life to his wise selection. His wife erew 
with his growth, and w^as, during all his career, the 
appreciative companion of his studies, the loving 
mother of his children, the graceful, hospitable 
hostess of his friends and guests, and a wise and 
faithful helpmeet in the trials, vicissitudes and 
successes of his busy life. 

They both derived great pleasure from con- 
tinuing their study of the classics. It is said 
that, when a girl at Hiram, she used to re- 
mark that her Latin and Greek would be of no 
use to her in after life. Two or three years ago, 
having grown a little "rusty" in these languages, 
she expressed the hope that she had not forgot- 
ten her Latin, as she would like to teach it to her 
boys. One day, her husband handed her a Caesar, 
and told her that he would hear her recite a page 
of it that night. She had not looked at the famous 
Commentaries for years; but when night came, 
she recited the page very well. For two years 
after this, she taught the two older boys Latin 
and other branches of study. Although the 
younger children have attended school, they have 
constantly had the oversight and valuable instruc- 
tion of their accomplished mother. 

II* 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE BIRTH OF A POLITICAL CAREER. 

UP to 1856, General Garfield had taken no 
particular Interest In public affairs. He 
had been occupied with other matters. 
But now that his creneral education was finished, 
and he was ready to devote himself to the work 
of the world, his political pulses began to stir. A 
year or two before the Republican party had 
sprung up as an Immediate consequence of the 
Kansas-Nebraska leeislatlon. Its original mission 
has been thus stated by Its recent standard- 
bearer : 

Long familiarity with traffic in the bodies and souls of 
men had paralyzed the conscience of a majority of our 
people. The baleful doctrine of State sovereignty had shaken 
and weakened the noblest and most beneficent powers of the 
National Government ; and the grasping power of slavery was 
seizing the virgin territories of the West, and dragging them 
into the den of external bondage. At that crisis the Repub- 
lican party was born. It drew its first inspiration from that 
fipe of liberty which God has lighted in every human heart, 
and which all the powers of ignorance and tyranny can 
never wholly extinguish. 

In the campaign of 1857 and 1S58, he took the 
stump and became quite well-known as a vigor- 
ous, logical stump-orator. And it is extremely 

(130) 



IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE. j -, j 

probable, that, during the excitement of the cam- 
paign, he felt the promptings of a political ambi- 
tion, which he did not acknowledge even to him- 
self. It was natural then, that, thinking that a few 
weeks at Columbus would not interfere with his 
duties at Hiram, he should have accepted the 
nomination to the Ohio Senate, from the counties 
of Portage and Summit, when it was tendered him 
in 1859; and equally natural, that he should have 
been thought of by the strong anti-slavery voters 
of those counties, His speeches, during his first 
campaign, were warm, fresh and impassioned, and 
added not a little to his already growing popu- 
larity. He was elected by a very handsome ma- 
jority. 

Senator Garfield at once took high rank in the 
Legislature, as a man, well informed on the sub- 
jects of legislation, and effective and powerful in 
debate. He seemed always prepared to speak; 
he always spoke fluently and pointedly; and his 
genial, warm-hearted nature served to increase 
the kindness, with which both political friends and 
opponents regarded him. Three Western Re- 
serve senators formed the Radical Triumvirate in 
that able and patriotic Legislature, which was to 
place Ohio in line for the war. One was a highly- 
rated professor of OberHn College; another, a 
lawyer already noted for force and learning, the 
son-in-law of the president of Oberlin ; and the 
third, our village-carpenter and village-teacher 



J ^2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

from Hiram. He was the youngest of the three, 
but he speedily became the first. The trials of the 
next six years were to confirm the verdict of the 
little group about the State capitol, that soon 
placed Garfield before both Cox and Monroe. 
The college-professor was abundantly satisfied 
with his success in life, which made him a consul 
at a South American port. The adroit, polished, 
able lawyer became a painstaking general, who 
perhaps, oftener deserved success than won it, and 
who at last, profiting by the gratitude of the people 
for their soldiers, became Governor of the State, 
and there (for the time, at least) ended his career. 
The village-carpenter started lower in position in 
the war, rose hieher, became one of the leaders 
in our national councils, and confessedly one of 
the ablest among the younger of our statesmen. 

During the session of 1 860-61, he was charac- 
teristically active and vigorous in aiding to pre- 
pare his State to stand by the General Govern- 
ment, in opposition to the rising storm of rebellion, 
which he met bravely, as we shall see later. In 
committee-work, we find from his pen an able re- 
port in favor of a State Geological Survey ; and 
another from a select committee in favor of author- 
izing active measures for protecting and itstruct- 
ing neglected, destitute and pauper children. 
Moreover, he framed the now famous report to 
punish treason, in which he urged that it was "high 
time for Ohio to enact a law to meet treachery, 



INCREASING POPULARITY. 



133 



when it shall take the form of an overt act, and to 
provide that, when her soldiers go forth to main- 
tain the Union, there shall be no treacherous fire 
in the rear." 

The following, which gives an idea of the man, 
at this time, was written by Mr. W. D, Howells, 
the recent editor of the Atlantic Monthly, who was 
legislative correspondent and news-editor of the 
Ohio State Jotirnal during the years Garfield 
was in the Ohio Senate : 

One winter there was an exchange of visits between the 
Tennessee Legislature and ours to promote a sentiment of 
good-feeling. Garfield was prominently in the affair, and ex- 
tremely popular with the Tennesseeans, on account of the 
manly and self respectful good-feeling, with which he, a 
Western Reserve anti-slavery man, met them on the common 
ground of their Americanism and devotion to the Union. I 
think he was more acceptable to them than any other Ohioan, 
though there was no question about his political opinions. 
He had then, as now, that simple, affectionate way, which 
harms people. 
I knew him, then, for his literary taste, and I particularly 
remember his passion for Tennyson's poetry. I had printed 
my first poems in the Atlantic, and it was, no doubt, his con- 
fidence in my literary sympathy which brought him one morn- 
ing to the y'c?/r//.7/ office, with his Tennyson, to read me some 
passages that had especially moved him in " The Poet." The 
rich fullness of his voice, and his fine self-forgetfulness, as he 
read were impressive enough to a boy of twenty, who had 
looked up to him as a law-giver. 

This literary reminiscence calls forth another 
from a correspondent, who knew the young sena- 



J ^A THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

tor at the time. Remarking on Garfield's love of 
Pascal, he says: 

One of the passages from Pascal, which the general is most 
fond of quoting is where that great philosopher said that the 
true way to study history is to treat the whole human race as 
one colossal, immortal man, forever living, always learning; 
who sometimes stumbles and falls, but who in the long run 
always advances in intelligence and civilization. I well re- 
member the general's quoting this. *'Do you know," he 
said, " that thought of Pascal's is one of remarkable beauty 
and value? I have often dwelt over it, and carried it much 
further than it is developed by the philosopher. The people 
of a Republic like ours are peculiarly like a single great in- 
dividual man, full of passions — prejudices often — but with a 
great heart, despising anything like show or pretense, and al- 
ways striving forward in a general right direction. The popu- 
lar verdict, expressed as the voice of this giant man, is some- 
times wrong for the nonce, but in the course of time it as- 
sumes the right tendency again. This individual pays but 
little attention to infinite things, unless there is something 
very peculiar about them. He casts his ox-like eye, in a sort 
of slow and easy way, along the horizon, and ascertains about 
where a great many men are. If any of these men who ap- 
pear before his general vision make any special effort to at- 
tract his attention, he probably smiles a sort of contemptuous 
smile, and passes on. Men often attempt to attract his at- 
tention — some one way, and others another. If the old fel- 
low once fastens his eyes on a man or woman from some 
legitimate act or course of action of his or hers, that person 
has that thing happen to him known as fame. If the old fel- 
low's eye is caused to rest on a person from some outlandish 
caper performed on purpose to catch his eye, that man is only 
notorious. The way to make the old giant take special no- 
tice of a man of worth is not to pay much attention to him, 
but keep on one's course, regardless of whether he sees or 



OJ?A TION AT RA VENNA. 



135 



not. It has been so often illustrated that the men who oy 
Lilliputian efforts attempt to court the old fellow generally fall 
short of capturing his favor. It is like a woman courting a 
man. There is something in man's nature that makes him 
revolt against anything of that kind. No woman is so pretty, 
charming and well-dressed that she can safely say to him, 
' Here, marry me ! You love me, and I know it. I am now 
ready for you; why should we delay?' The man would say, 
' I was going to ask you to marry me, yesterday ; but now I 
don't want you at all. You are just a little too willing. I 
think I'd rather not.' That is man's nature — he can't help 
but show it; and tliat is the nature of the old giant we are 
discussing. He would much rather seek his man when he 
wants to look at one or bestow any special favors." 

On the 4th of July, i860, at Ravenna, Mr. 
Garfield delivered an oration, which rings with the 
sterling patriotism of the man, and forms a fitting 
prelude to the story of war, to which the reader's 
attention will next be invited. At Ravenna, Gar- 
field said : 

We have seen that our Republic differs in its origin from 
all the monarchies of the world. We may also see that it 
differs widely from all other republics of ancient or modern 
times. These all centred round a conquering hero or a power- 
ful city — ours round a principle. In the brightest days of 
the Grecian Republic, its strength and glory rested upon the 
life and fortunes of Pericles. In the old Dutch Republic of 
Holland and the later establishments of modern Germany, 
freedom was of the city and not of the people. The burghers 
were the only freemen, and they constituted an aristocracy 
more haughty and imperious than the hereditary peers of 
England. The peasants of the rural districts, the toiling 
thousands, were hardly known to the government, except 



136 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



that they bore many of its heavy burdens. But here, cities 
are not tyrannies, and freedom in her best estate is found in 
the green fields of the country, among the hardy tillers of 
the soil. Heroes did not make our liberties, they but reflected 
and illustrated them. Individuals may wear for a time the 
glory of our institutions, but they carry it not with them to 
the grave. Like rain-drops from heaven, they pass through 
the circle of the shining bows and add to its lustre, but when 
they have sunk in the earth again, the proud arch still spans 
the sky and shines gloriously on. Governments, in general, 
look upon man only as a citizen, a fraction of the state. 
God looks upon him as an individual man, with capacities, 
duties and a destiny of his own; and just in proportion as a 
government recognizes the individual and shields him in the 
exercises of his rights, in that proportion is it Godlike and 
glorious. The village church and the village school have be- 
come our great civilizing and elevating guardians, and we 
mention with honest pride the fact that more than half of all 
the revenue of our State government is annually expended in 
the education of our youth. And yet there are other States 
in the Union, which, in thisrespect, wearstill brighter laurels 
than Ohio. To all these means of culture is added that pow- 
erful incentive to personal ambition which springs from the 
genius of our Government. The pathway to honorable 
distinction lies open to all. No post of honor so high but 
the poorest boy may hope to reach it. 

It is the pride of every American that many cherished 
names, at whose mention our hearts beat with a quicker 
bound, were worn by the sons of poverty, who conquered 
obscurity and became fixed stars in our firmament. None 
appreciate this more fully than our adopted citizens, who 
have felt the crushing hand of power in other lands. It can- 
not but destroy the high hopes of a noble nature to know 
that, though the blood that visits his heart leaps as free and 
ruby red as that which courses the veins of king or lord, 
and though in God's sight he is every whit their peer, yet 



OR A TION AT RA VENNA. 



137 



the strong crust of centuries is above him, the shadow of 
power gloomily enshrouds him, and all the high places of 
distinction and trust are forever barred against him. 

And here we are brought to that question of deepest in- 
terest to the patriot's heart — our nation's future. Shall it 
be perpetual? Shall the expanding circle of its beneficent 
influence extend, widening onward to the farthest shore of 
time ? Shall its sun rise higher and yet higher, and shine 
with ever-brightening lustre? Or, has it passed the zenith 
of its glory, and left us to sit in the lengthening shadows of 
its coming night? Shall power from beyond the sea snatch 
the proud banner from us ? Shall civil dissension or intestine 
strife rend the fair fabric of the Union ? The rulers of the 
Old World have long and impatiently looked to see fulfilled 
the prophecy of its downfall. Such philosophers as Coler- 
idge, Allison and Macauley have, severally, set forth the rea- 
sons for this prophecy— the chief of which is, that the ele- 
ment of insta'bility in our Government will sooner or later 
bring upon it certain destruction. This is truly a grave 
charge. But whether instability is an element of destruction 
or of safety, depends wholly upon the sources whence that 
instability springs. 

The granite hills are not so changeless and abiding as 
the restless sea. Quiet is no certain pledge of permanence 
and safety. Trees niay flourish and flowers may bloom upon 
the quiet mountain side, while silently the trickling rain- 
drops are filling the deep cavern behind its rocky barriers, 
which, by and by, in a single moment, shall hurl to wild ruin 
its treacherous peace. It is true, that in our land there is no 
such outer quiet, no such deceitful repose. Here society is 
a restless and surging sea. The roar of the billows, the 
dash of the wave, is forever in our ears. Even the angry 
hoarseness of breakers is not unheard. But there is an 
understratum of deep, calm sea, which the breath of the 
wildest tempest can never reach. There is, deep down in 
the hearts of the American people, a strong and abiding love 
12 



J -,g THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

of our country and its liberty, wliich no surface-storms of 
passion can ever shake. That kind of instability which arises 
from a free movement and interchange of position among 
the members of society, which brings one drop up to glisten 
for a time in the crest of the highest wave, and then give 
place to another, while it goes down to mingle again with 
the millions below ; such instability is the surest pledge of 
permanence. On such instability the eternal fixedness of the 
universe is based. Each planet, in its circling orbit, returns 
to the goal of its departure, and on the balance of these wildly- 
rolling spheres God has planted the broad base of His mighty 
works. So the hope of our national perpetuity rests upon 
that perfect individual freedom, which shall forever keep up 
the circuit of perpetual change. God forbid that the waters 
of our national life should ever settle to the dead level of a 
waveless calm. It would be the stagnation of death — the 
ocean grave of individual liberty. 



c^^^^^^fei^^^^^ 



GARFIELD^SOLDIER. 



^J^^^^^=^. 



^^^^f^^ 



'^General Garfield proceeded to the Front.*' 

— General Rosecrans' s official report of the battle of Chickamauga. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE STORM BURSTS. 



T 



'^O write the career of James A. Garfield 
during the trying hours of the Rebellion 
is to write at once a history of intrepid 
bravery, exquisite coolness in danger, and sure 
success in action. His career has been rarely 
equaled by any American, who entered the war 
as a civilian and laid down his sword with the 
rank of a major-general. His record, while bear- 
ing testimony to the marvelous spirit, that always 
pervades a great people in a great crisis, and 
brings to the front a leader for every emergency, 
is a strangely complete illustration of how per- 
fectly a man of brains and determination may 
succeed in some difficult walk in life, for which 
special and particular training have been always 
considered necessary. 

When the South chose to inaugurate the bud- 
ding of the leaves and the return of the flowers, 
in 1 86 1, by tearing from the old flag some of its 
sacred stars, the country paused a moment, wait- 
ing, as it were, for actors in the coming tragedy, 
leaders for the now inevitable armies. The guns, 
that had opened upon Sumter on the memorable 
I 2th of April, had not merely crumbled the walls 

1 2* (141) 



jj^2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

of that Southern fortress. They had also shaU 
tered all hopes of a peaceful solution of the pro- 
blems then before the country. 

Civil war had become a sad necessity, a bitter 
fact to write upon the pages of a nation's history, 
which had begun so gloriously in 1776. The Presi- 
dent's proclamation of the 15th called forth the 
militia for objects entirely lawful and constitu- 
tional, and it was responded to with a patriotic 
fervor, which melted down all previously existing 
party lines. This "uprising of a great people," 
as it was well termed by a foreign writer, was a 
kindling and noble spectacle. The hearts of a 
whole land throbbed as one. But we cannot now, 
without a feeling of sadness, recall the brilliant 
and burning enthusiasm, that lighted our beloved 
country' like a torch, because there was mingled 
with it so much ignorance, not merely of the 
magnitude of the contest before us, but of the 
nature of war itself. The high-spirited young 
men, who swelled the ranks of the volunteer force ' 
at the call of duty, marched off as gayly, as if 
they were participants in a holiday turnout — a 
party of pic-nickers rather than devoted patriots, 
upon very many of whom the death seal was al- 
ready set. The Rebellion was to be put down at 
once, and by little more than the mere show of 
the preponderating force of the loyal States; and 
the task of putting it down was to be attended 
with no more danger than was sufficient to give 



OPENING OF THE WAR. I .^ 

the enterprise a due flavor of excitement. War 
was unknown to us except by report; the men of 
the Revolution were but spectres of a jeweled 
past; the veterans of 1812 were some of them 
still alive, but even they were gray with years 
and the memories of events. 

We had read of battles; we had seen some- 
thing of the pomp of holiday-soldiers; but of the 
grim realities of war we were absolutely ignorant. 
Indeed, not a few had come to the conclusion, 
that war was a relic of barbarism, and that civili- 
zation had forever dispensed with the soldier and 
his sword. 

It need hardly be said, that the call to conflict 
found us totally unprepared for the great storm 
about to break. Our regular army was insignifi- 
cant in numbers and scattered over our vast ter- 
ritory or along our Western frontier, so that it 
was impossible to collect any considerable force 
at any point. Our militia-system had everywhere 
fallen into neglect, and In some States had almost 
ceased to have any existence whatever. The wits 
laughed at it, it was a common subject of news- 
paper criticism ; it was christened " the cornstalk 
militia ; " platform orators declaimed against it. 
Indeed, so low had it fallen In public estimation, 
that it required some moral courage to march 
through the streets at the head of a company. 

The South had been wiser, or at least, more 
provident in this respect. The military spirit had 
K 



144 



THE IIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



nevef been discouraged there. Many of the po- 
litical leaders had longf been looking forward to 
the time, when the unhappy sectional contests, 
which were distracting the country, would blaze 
into a civil war; and for this war they had long 
been preparing. They watched the smouldering 
fire of discontent, and awaited the great confla- 
gration of war. In some of the States there were 
military academies which furnished a great num- 
ber of trained officers for their regiments. This 
eave them at the start a considerable advantaofe, 
which, more real than seeming, was quickly im- 
proved. 

At the North the people paused a moment to 
ask themselves where they were to find the needed 
officers. Graduates of West Point were scattered 
over the country. To them the civil authorities 
turned for assistance. This, which was necessarily 
limited, was rendered freely and ably. In most 
States the militia, and later the Executive, chose 
the officers; and this system continued until time 
and experience tested the ability of these civilian 
officers, and brought to the front the most merito- 
rious. This produced a result, of which we have 
no reason to be in the least ashamed. A race of 
civilian officers, proving their right to command 
by deeds, not diplomas, winning experience at the 
point of the bayonet, and testing their bravery 
within range of the bullets of the foe, sprang 
everywhere Into existence to uphold the Stars and 



GARFIELD'S POSITION. r^r 

Stripes To this class, now occupying a place in 
our history, James A. Garfield belonged ; and of 
those, who were his comrades, few made a better, 
braver record than he. 

When the secession of the Southern States be- 
gan, National considerations were of paramount 
importance in Ohio as elsewhere. Indeed, the 
early signs of the separation between the North 
and South had attracted earnest attention and se- 
vere comment in that- State. In Its Senate and 
House of Representatives many a debate had 
been held, wherein the seeds of secession doc- 
trines had been attempted to be planted by men, 

who saw amiss. Garfield, as It will be remembered 

> 

was a member of the Senate, having been elected 
to represent Portage and .Summit Counties two 
years before. The spring of 1861 found the Sen- 
ate, of which he was a member, earnestly occupying 
Its time with those questions, that excited so much 
interest within, as well as beyond, the borders of 
Ohio, Garfield's coarse on all these questions 
was manly and outspoken, He was the foremost 
of the very small number (only six voting with 
him) that thought the spring of 1861 unseason- 
able for adopdng the Corv^In Constitudonal 
Amendment, which forbade Congress from ever 
legislating on the subject of slavery In the States. 
He was among the foremost in maintaining the 
right of the National Government to coerce sece- 
ded States. "Would you give up the forts and 



146 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Other Government property in those States, or 
would you fight to maintain your right to them?" 
was his adroit way of putting the question to a 
conservative Repubhcan, who deplored his incen- 
diary views. A bill, which he had introduced, was 
passed, declaring that any resident of the State, 
who crave aid and comfort to the enemies of the 
United States, was guilty of treason against the 
State, and should be punished by imprisonment 
for life in the penitentiary. 

Ohio, when the great call came, was as unpre- 
pared as the other States. There was a small 
force of militia nominally organized ; but the con- 
stitution and laws of the State provided, that all 
its officers should be elected by the men, and that 
the governor should be limited in his selection of 
officers, in case the militia was called out, to the 
parties so chosen. Everywhere, however, there 
were enthusiasm for the cause and a wild willing- 
ness to help the government by every possible 
sacrifice, that a great people could make. When 
the President's call for seventy-five thousand men 
was announced to the Ohio Senate, Senator Gar- 
field was instantly on his feet, and amid tumul- 
tuous acclamations from the assemblage, moved 
that twenty thousand troops and three millions of 
money" should be at once voted as Ohio's quota ! 
His speech he immediately illustrated by offering 
his own services in any capacity, which Governor 
Dennison might choose. That he should uphold 



PROCURING ARMS. 



147 



the flag was demanded bodi by patriotism and by 
the logic of the RepubUcan doctrine, that he had 
so nobly, so bravely maintained. It was but the 
second stage of resistance to slavery. While 
awaiting a wider field, he occupied himself with 
the arming of the militia, or any measure, that 
had for its object the advancement of the plans 
then in progress. He made a hasty journey to 
Illinois, and procured five thousand muskets, 
which he shipped to Columbus to arm some of 
the first regiments, that formed upon Ohio soil. 
He then returned to the capital. 

From here he wrote as follows to Mr. Hins- 
dale : 

Columbus, January 15th, 1861. 
My heart and thoughts are full almost every momer t with the 
terrible reality of our country's condition. We have learned 
so long to look upon the convulsions of European States as 
things wholly impossible here, that the people are slow in 
coming to the belief that there may be any breakiug up of 
our institutions, but stern, awful certainty is fastening upon 
the hearts of men. I do not see anyway, outside a miracle of 
God, which can avoid civil war with all its attendant horrors. 
Peaceable dissolution is utterly impossible. Indeed, I cannot 
say that I would wish it possible. To make the concessions 
demanded by the South would be hypocritical and sinful; they 
would neither be obeyed nor respected. I am inclined to 
believe that the sin of slavery is one of which it may be said 
that without the shedding of blood there is no remission. 
All that is left us as a State, or say as a company of Northern 
States, is to arm and prepare to defend ourselves and the 
Federal Government. I believe the doom of slavery is draw- 



148 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



\w<^ near. Let war come, and the slaves will get the vague 
notion that it is waged for them, and a magazine will be 
lighted whose explosion will shake the whole fabric of slavery. 
Even if all this happen, I cannot yet abandon the belief that 
one government will rule this continent, and its people be 
one people. 

Meantime, what will be the influence of the times on indi- 
viduals? Your question is very interesting and suggestive. 
The doubt that hangs over the whole issue bears touching 
also. It may be the duty of our young men to join the army, 
or they may be drafted without their own consent. If neither 
of these things happen, there will be a period when old men 
and young will be electrified by the spirit of the times, and 
one result will be to make every individuality more marked 
and their opinions more decisive. I believe the times will 
be even more favorable than calm ones for the formation of 
strong and forcible characters. 

ist at this time (have you observed the fact?) we "have no 
man who has power to ride upon the storm and direct it. The 
hour has come, but not the man. The crisis will make many 
such. But I do not love to speculate on so painful a theme. 
* * * I am chosen to respond to a toast on the Union 
at the State Printer's Festival here next Thursday evening. It 
is a sad and difficult theme at this time. 



Columbus, February i6th, iS6i. 
Mr. Lincoln has come and gone. The rush of people to 
see him at every point on the route is astonishing. The re- 
ception here was plain and republican, but very impressive. 
He has been raising a pair of dark -brown whiskers, which 
decidedly improve his looks, but no appendage can ever 
render him remarkable for beauty. On the whole, I am 
greatly pleased with him. He clearly shows his want of 
culture, and the marks of Western life, but there is no touch 
of affectation in him, and he has a peculiar power of im- 



DISSOLUTION TO BE RESISTED. j . g 

pressing you that he is frank, direct and thoroughly honest, 
His remarkable good sense, simple and condensed style of 
expression, and eviden4; marks of indomitable will give me 
great hopes for the country. And, after the long, dreary 
period of Buchanan's weakness and cowardly imbecility, the 
people will hail a strong and vigorous leader. 

I have never brought my mind to consent to the dissolution 
peaceably. I know it may be asked, Is it not better to dis- 
solve before war than after ? But I ask. Is it not better to 
fight before dissolution than after? If the North and South 
cannot live in the Union without war, how can they live and 
expand as dissevered nations without it? May it not be an 
economy of bloodshed to tell the South that disunion is war, 
and that the United States Government will protect its prop- 
erty and execute its laws at all hazards ? 

I confess the great weight of the theught in your letter of 
the Plymouth and Jamestown ideas, and their vital and utter 
antagonism. This conflict may yet break the vase by the 
lustiness of its growth and strength, but the history of other 
nations gives me hope. Every government has periods when 
its strength and unity are tested. England has passed through 
the Wars of the Roses and the days of Cromwell, A mon- 
archy is more easily overthrown than a republic, because its 
sovereignty is concentrated, and a single blow, if it be pow- 
erful enough, will crush it. 

Burke, this is really a great time to live in, if any of us 
can only catch the cue of it. I am glad you write on these 
subjects, and you must blame yourself for having made me 
inflict on you the longest letter I have written to any one in 
more than a year. 



13 



CHAPTER X. 



AT THE HEAD OF A REGIMENT. 



""T ^ THEN the time came for appointing 
\ /\ / officers for the troops so hastily got 
' ' together, Garfield displayed," says 
Whitelaw Reid in his " Ohio in the War," " his 
signal want of tact and skill in advancing his own 
interests. Of the three leading Radical senators, 
Garfield had the most personal popularity. Cox 
was at that time, perhaps, a more compact and 
pointed speaker, he had matured earlier, as (to 
change the figure) he was to culminate sooner. 
But he had never aroused the warm regard, which 
Garfield's whole-hearted, generous disposition 
always excited, yet Cox had the sagacity to see 
how his interests were to be advanced. He aban- 
doned the Senate-chamber, installed himself as 
assistant in the governor's office, made his skill 
felt in the rush of business, and soon convinced 
the appointing power of his special aptitude for 
military affairs. In natural sequence he was pres- 
ently appointed a brigadier-general, while Gar- 
field was sent off on a mission to some western 
States to see about arms for the Ohio volunteers," 
On the 14th of August, 1861, several months 
after the adjournment of the Legislature, Governor 
(150) 



EN'LISTED FOR THE WAR. 



151 



Dennlson offered Garfield the lieutenant-colonelcy 
of the Forty-second Ohio, a regiment not yet 
oreanized, which Garfield had been instrumental 
in brineine into existence with the active aid of 
Judge Sheldon of Illinois, Don A. Pardee of 
Medina, Ralph Plumb of Oberlin, and other patri- 
otic citizens of his district. He did not accept the 
tendered command hastily, with the avidity of an 
aspirant for honors. He went home, opened his 
mother's Bible, and pondered the subject. He 
had a wife, a child, and a few thousand dollars. 
If he gave his life to the country, would God and 
the few thousand dollars provide for his wife and 
child? He consulted the Book about it. It seemed 
to answer in the affirmative ; and before morning 
he wrote to a friend : 

" I regard my life as given to the country. I 
am only anxious to make as much of it as possi- 
ble before the mort^aee on it is foreclosed." 

At the same sitting he informed Governor Den- 
nison of his acceptance of the appointment. The 
regiment, with which he had thus considerately 
chosen to cast his lot, was principally recruited 
from Portage and Summit Counties. Most of the 
officers and privates had been students of Hiram 
Colleo-e ; anci it was in a certain decree the trans- 
fer of that literary and religious Institution e7i 
masse to another field, where the clmrch militant, 
becoming 77iilitant in truth, was finally to be the 
church triumphant. 



1^2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Five weeks were spent in drilling at camp 
Chase, near Columbus. Companies A, B, C and D 
were mustered Into service September 25th, 1861, 
Company E, October 30th, Company F, Novem- 
ber 1 2th, and Companies G, H, I and K, Novem- 
ber 26th, when organization was completed. 

Garfield at once set vigorously to work to mas- 
ter the art and mystery of war, and to give his 
men such a degree of discipline, as would fit them 
for effective service in the field. Bringing his saw 
and jack-plane again into play, he fashioned com- 
panies, and commissioned and non-commissioned 
officers out of maple blocks ; and with these 
wooden-headed troops he thoroughly mastered 
the Infantry-tactics in his quarters. Then he or- 
ganized a school for the officers of his regiment, 
requiring thorough recitations In the tactics, and 
illustrating the manoeuvres with the blocks, which 
he had prepared for his own Instruction. Then 
he instituted regimental, company, squad, skirmish 
and bayonet drill, and kept his men at these ex- 
ercises from six to eight hours a day, until it was 
universally admitted, that no better drilled or dis- 
ciplined regiment could be found in Ohio. 

At the time Garfield was appointed lieutenant- 
colonel, it was understood, that, if he had cared to 
push the matter, he might have been made colonel ; 
but with a modesty quite unusual in those early days 
of the war, he preferred to start low, and rise as 
he learned. It was but a just tribute, therefore^ 



THE SITU A TION. I r ^ 

tliat on the completion of the organization, he was, 
without his own soHcitation, promoted to the col- 
onelcy. The regiment saw three years of service ; 
the last of the men were mustered out December 
2d, 1864. 

It was not until the 14th of December, 1861, 
that orders for the field were received at Camp 
Chase for Colonel Garfield's command. Yet, up 
to this date no active operations had been at- 
tempted in the great department, that lay south of 
the Ohio River. The spell of Bull Run still hung 
over our armies. Except the campaign in West- 
ern Virginia and the attack by General Grant at 
Belmont, not a single engagement had occurred 
in all the region between the Alleghanies and the 
Mississippi. General Buell was preparing to ad- 
vance upon Bowling Green, when he suddenly 
found himself hampered by two co-operating 
forces skillfully planted within striking distance of 
his flank. General Zollikoffer was advancing from 
Cumberland Gap toward Mill Spring; and Hum- 
phrey Marshall, moving down the Sandy Valley 
from Virginia, was threatening to overrun Eastern 
Kentucky. Till these could be driven back, an 
advance upon Bowling Green would be perilous, 
if not actually impossible. To General George 
H. Thomas, just raised from a colonelcy of regu- 
lars to a brigadiership of volunteers, was com- 
mitted the task of repulsing Zollikoffer, and to 
the untried colonel of the raw Forty-second Ohio 
13* 



J CA THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the task of repulsing Humphrey Marshall. On 
their success the whole army of the Department 
waited. 

Colonel Garfield's orders directed him to move 
his command to Catlettsburg, Kentucky (a town 
at the junction of the Big Sandy and the Ohio), 
and to report immediately, in person, to the De- 
partment Headquarters at Louisville. The regi- 
ment went by rail to Cincinnati, and thence by 
boat to Catlettsburg, where it arrived on the morn- 
ing of December 17th. By sunset of the 19 th, 
Colonel Garfield reported to General Buell, at 
Louisville. In his interview with that officer he 
was informed, that he was to be sent against Mar- 
shall, who had advanced as far north as Preston- 
bure, driving the Union forces before him. 

Our hero was now face to face with the actuali- 
ties of the conflict. He was to command an expe- 
dition, to which great importance was attached, 
and on which great results depended. The prize 
at stake was Kentucky. If the rebel plan was 
successful, Kentucky would probably go out of 
the Union at once ; if the Federal operations suc- 
ceeded, secession might be delayed indefinitely or 
prevented. Marshall was expected by the rebel 
authorities to advance toward Lexington, unite 
with Zollikoffer, and establish the authority of the 
Provisional Government at the State capital. 
These hopes were fed by the recollection of his 
great intellectual abilities and soldierly reputation 



HIS FIRST TASK. 



155 



ever since he led the famous charge of the Ken- 
tucky vokmteers at Buena Vista. It was feared 
that he, with the large army he could gather, would, 
if unmolested, hang upon Buell's flank, and pre- 
vent his advance into Tennessee ; or that, if Buell 
advanced, Marshall would cut off his communica- 
tions, and, falling on his rear while Beauregard 
encountered him in front, would crush him, as it 
we're, between the upper and the nether millstone. 
If this should happen so early in the war, Ken- 
tucky would be lost, and the dissolution of the 
Union mieht follow. 

To check this dangerous advance by Marshall, 
a thoroughly educated military man, and the un- 
counted thousands, whom his reputation would 
draw about him, Colonel Garfield was asked to 
plan a movement. He had gone into the war 
with a life not his own, and was now called upon 
to prove his title to the confidence, which his State 
had reposed in him. He knew nothing of war 
beyond its fundamental principles ; which are, as 
stated by a writer, that " a big boy can whip a lit- 
tle boy, and that the big boy can whip two little 
boys, If he take them singly one after another." 
He knew no more about It, when General Buell, 
one of the most scientific millitary men of his 
time, selected him to solve a problem, which has 
puzzled the heads of the ablest generals — namely, 
how two small bodies of men, stationed widely 
apart, can unite in the face of an enemy and beat 



156 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



him, when he is twice their united strength, and 
strongly posted behind intrenchments. 

Garfield was given twenty-five hundred men, 
eleven hundred of whom under Colonel Cranor 
were at Paris, Ky., while the remainder, his own 
reofiment, and the half-formed Fourteenth Ken- 
tucky under Colonel Moore, was at Catlettsburg. 
A hundred miles of mountain country, overrun 
with rebels, were between them. This was the 
problem of the big boy, uncertain of size, but 
known to be skilled in war, and of the two little 
boys, who were to whip him, when only by a mira- 
cle they could act together, and when they knew 
no more of war than could be learned from the 
posturing of wooden blocks and the crack per- 
haps of squirrel-rifles. 

"That is what you have to do. Colonel Garfield 
— drive Marshall from Kentucky," said Buell, 
when he had finished his view of the situation ; 
"and you see how much depends on your action, 
Now go to your quarters, think of it over night, 
and come here in the mornine and tell me how 
you will do it." 

On his way to his hotel, the young colonel 
bought a rude map of Kentucky, and, shutting 
himself in his room, spent the night in studying 
the geography of the country, in which he was to 
operate, and in making notes of the only plan, 
which seemed to him likely to secure the objects 
of the campaign. 



COMMANDING A BRIGADE. 



157 



His interview with the commanding general the 
following morning was, as may be imagined, of 
peculiar interest. Few army-officers possessed 
more reticence, terse logic and severe military 
habits, than General Buell; and, as the young 
man laid his rude map and roughly-oudined plan 
on his table, and with a curious and anxious face 
watched his features to detect some indication of 
his thought, the scene was one for a painter. 
But no word or look indicated the commander's 
opinion of the feasibility of the plan, or the good 
sense of the suggestions. He spoke now and 
then in a quiet, sententious manner, but said noth- 
ing of approval or disapproval. At the close of 
the conference, he simply said: 

"Your orders will be sent to you at six o'clock 
this evenincr. " 

The order came prompdy, organizing thefiigh- 
teenth Brigade of the Army of the Ohio, Colonel 
Garfield commanding ; and with the order came a 
letter of instructions for the campaign, recapitu- 
lating, with very slight modifications, the plans 
submitted by Garfield in the morning. On the 
following morning he took leave of his general. 
The latter said to him at parting : 

" Colonel, you will be at so great a distance from 
me, and communications will be so slow and diffi- 
cult, that I must commit all matters of detail, and 
much of the fate of the campaign to your discre- 
tion. I shall hope to hear a good account of 
you." 



J -g THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Garfield at once set out for Catlettsburg. 
Arrivinsr there on the 2 2d of December he found 
that his regiment had already proceeded to Louisa, 
twenty-eight miles up the Big Sandy. 

A state of general alarm existed throughout 
the district. The Fourteenth Kentucky — the only 
force of Union troops left in the Big Sandy 
region — had been stationed at Louisa, but had 
hastily retreated to the mouth of the river during 
the night of the 19th, under the impression that 
Marshall, with his whole force, was intending to 
drive them into the Ohio. Union citizens and 
their families were preparing to cross the river 
for safety, but on the arrival of Colonel Garfield's 
regiment a feeling of security returned, which was 
increased, when it was seen, that the Union troops 
boldly pushed on to Louisa without even waiting 
for their colonel. This, however, was done In 
pursuance of orders, which he had telegraphed on 
the morning after he had formed the plan of the 
campaign in his dingy quarters in the Louisville 
hotel. 

Waiting at Catlettsburg only long enough to 
forward supplies to his forces, Garfield appeared 
at Louisa on the morning of December 24th, and 
thenceforward became an actor in one of the most 
wonderful scenes of history. 



G 



CHAPTER -XI. 

OPENING THE BIG SANDY CAMPAIGN. 

ARFIELD had two very difficult things to 
.— . accompHsh. He had to open communica- 
■^ tions with Colonel Cranor, while the in- 
tervening country, as has been said, was infested 
with roving bands of rebels and populated by dis- 
loyal people. He had also to form a junction 
with the force under that officer in the face of a 
superior enemy, who would doubtless be apprised 
of every movement and be likely to fall upon his 
separate columns, as soon as either was set in 
motion, in the hope of crushing them in detail. 
Either operation was hazardous, if not well-nigh 
impossible. 

Evidently the first thing to be done was to find 
a trustworthy messenger to convey dispatches be- 
tween the two halves of his army. Garfield there- 
fore applied to Colonel Moore of the Fourteenth 
Kentucky. 

"Have you a man," he asked, "who will die 
rather than fail, or betray us ? " 

The Kentuckian reflected a moment, then 
answered: 

'T think I have — ^John Jordan from the head of 
Blaine." 

^ (159) 



1 60 ^-^^ ^^^^ ^^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Jordan was sent for, and soon entered the tent 
of the Union commander. He was somewhat of 
a noted character in that region, a descendant of 
a Scotchman, belonging to a family of men, who 
would die in defence of some honor or trust. 
Jordan was also a born actor, a man of unflinch- 
ing courage and great expedients, devoted to the 
true principles, that bind this land in the solidity 
of a great union. 

On his appearance, Garfield was at once im- 
pressed in his favor. He always remembered him 
as a tall, gaunt, sallow man of about thirty years, 
with gray eyes, a fine falsetto voice pitched in the 
minor key, and a face, that had as many expres- 
sions as could be found in a regiment. To the 
young colonel he seemed a strange combination 
of cunning, simplicity, undaunted courage and 
undoubting faith, but possessed of a quaint sort 
of wisdom, which ought to have given him to his- 
tory. Garfield sounded him thoroughly, for the 
campaign might depend upon his fidelity. Jordan's 
soul was as clear as crystal, and in ten minutes 
Garfield had read it, as if it had been an open 
volume. 

" Why did you come into this war ?" at last asked 
the commander. 

"To do my part for the country, Colonel," an- 
swered Jordan, " and I made no terms with the 
Lord. I gave Him my life without conditions ; 
and, if He sees fit to take it in this tramp, why, it 
is His. I have nothing to say against it." 



SENDING DISPATCHES. 



i6i 



" You mean you have come into the war with- 
out expecting to get out of it?" 

"I do, Colonel." 

" Will you die rather than let this dispatch be 
taken ?" 

-I will." 

The colonel, recalling what had passed in his 
own mind, when he was poring over his mother's 
Bible that night at his home in Ohio, quickly 
formed a conclusion. 

" Very well," he said ; " I will trust you." 

The dispatch was written on tissue paper, rolled 
into the form of a bullet, coated with lead, and 
put into the hand of Jordan. He was given a 
carbine and a brace of revolvers ; and, mounting 
his horse when the moon was down, he started on 
his perilous journey. 

By midnight of the second day Jordan reached 
Colonel Cranor's quarters, at McCormick's Gap, 
and delivered his precious billet. The colonel 
opened the dispatch. It was dated Louisa, De- 
cember 24th, midnight, and ordered him to move 
his regiment at once to Prestonburg. He was 
directed to encumber the men with as few rations 
and as little baggage as possible, bearing in mind, 
that the safety of his command would depend on 
his expedition. He was also directed to have the 
dispatch con-C^eyed to Lieutenant-Colonel Wool- 
ford, at Stamford, and to order him to join the 
inarch with his three hundred cavalry. Hours 
14 



J 52 ^-^^ L^P^ OP PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

were now worth months of ordinary time; and 
on the following morning Cranor's column was 
set in motion. 

The dispatch fully revealed to Cranor Garfield's 
Intention to move at once upon the enemy. Of 
Marshall's real strength he is ignorant; but his 
scouts and the country people report, that the 
rebel's main body, which is intrenched in an almost 
impregnable position near Paintville, numbers 
from four to seven thousand, and that an outlying 
force of eight hundred occupies West Liberty (a 
town directly on the route), through which Colonel 
Cranor is to march to effect a junction with Gar- 
field's men. Cranor's column is one thousand one 
hundred strong ; and the main body, under Gar- 
field, numbers about seventeen hundred, consist- 
ing of the Forty-second Ohio Infantry, one thou- 
sand and thirteen strong, and the Fourteenth Ken- 
tucky Infantry, numbering five hundred, rank and 
file, and imperfectly armed and equipped. Gar- 
field's entire force, therefore counted two thousand 
eight hundred, in a strange district, cut off from 
reinforcements, with which to meet and crush an 
army of at least five thousand, familiar with the 
country and daily receiving recruits from the dis- 
affected southern counties. Evidently a forward 
movement is attended with great hazard ; but the 
Union commander does not waste time in consid- ! 
erlng the obstacles and dangers of the expedition. 
On the mornincr afi-pr tV. 



\f^ cr^r^t 



OPENING THE CAMPAIGN. 



163 



field sets out with such of his command as are in 
readiness, and halting at George's Creek, only 
twenty miles from Marshall's intrenched position, 
prepares to move at once upon the enemy. 

The roads along the Big Sandy are impassable 
for trains ; and the close proximity of the enemy 
renders it unsafe to make so wide a detour from 
the river, as would be required to send supplies 
by the table-lands to the westward. Under these 
circumstances Garfield decides to depend mainly 
upon water-navigation to transport his supplies, 
and to use the army-train, only when his troops 
are obliged, by absolutely impassable roads, to 
move away from the river. 

The Big Sandy is a narrow, fickle stream, that 
finds its way to the Ohio through the roughest 
and wildest spurs of the Cumberland Mountains. 
At low-water it is not navigable above Louisa, 
except by small flat-boats pushed by hand ; but 
these ascend as high as Piketon, one hundred and 
twenty miles from the mouth of the river, At 
high-water small steamers can reach Piketon ; 
but heavy freshets render navigation impractica- 
ble, owing to the swift current filled with floating 
timber, and to the overhanging trees, which al- 
most touch one another from the opposite banks. 
At this time the river was only of moderate 
height ; and, as will be readily seen, the supply of 
a brigade in mid-winter by such an uncertain 
stream, and in the presence of a powerful enemy, 
was a thing of great difficulty. 



164 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



However, the obstacles do not intimidate Gar- 
field. Gathering ten days' rations, he charters 
two small steamers and impresses all the available 
flat-boats; and taking- his army-wagons apart, he 
loads them with his forage and provisions on the 
fiat-boats. This is on New Year's Day, 1862. 
Next morning Captain Bent of the Fourteenth 
Kentucky, entering Garfield's tent, says to him : 




FLAT-BOAT TRANSPORTING TROOPS. 

" Colonel, there's a man outside, who says he 
knows you — Bradley Brown, a rebel thief and 
scoundrel." 

** Brown," says Garfield, rising half-dressed from 
his blanket. " Bradley Brown ! I don't know any 
one of that name." 

" He has lived near the head of Blaine, been a 
boatman on the river, says he knew you on the 
canal in Ohio." 

" Oh, yes," answered Garfield, " bring him in. 
Now I remember him." 

In a moment Brown is ushered into the colonel's 
quarters. He is clad in country homespun, and 



AN OLD ASSOCIATE. 



165 



Spattered from head to foot with the mud of a 
long journey. Without any regard for the sanc- 
tity of rank, he advances at once to the Union 
commander, and grasping him warmly by the hand, 
exclaims, "Jim, ole feller, how ar' ye?" 

The colonel receives him cordially, but noticing 
his ruddy face says : 

" Fifteen years haven't changed you. Brown. 
You will take a glass of whisky? But what's 
this I hear ? Are you a rebel ? 

"Yes," answers Brown, "I belong to Marshall's 
force, and" — this he prefaces with a burst of 
laughter — "I've come stret from his camp to spy 
out yer army. " 

The colonel looks surprised, but says coolly: 

"Well, you go about it queerly. " 

"Yes, quar, but honest, Jim. When yer alone, 
I'll tell yer about it." 

As Bent was leaving the tent, he said to his 
commander, in an undertone: 

"Don't trust him, Colonel. I know him ; he's a 
thief and a rebel." 

Brown's disclosures, in a few words, are these: 

Hearing, a short time before, at the rebel camp, 
that James A. Garfield of Ohio had taken com- 
mand of the Union forces, he inferred at once, 
that the officer was his old canal-companion, for 
whom, as a boy, he had felt a strong affection. 
This supposition was confirmed a few days later 
by his hearing from a renegade Northern man 
14* 



1 55 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

some of the antecedents of the colonel. Remem- 
bering their former friendship, and being indiffer- 
ent as to which side was successful in the campaign, 
he at once determined to do an important service 
for the Union commander. 

With this object he sought an interview with 
Marshall, stated to him his former acquaintance 
with Garfield, and proposed, that he should take 
advantage of it to enter the Union camp, and 
learn all about the enemy's strength and intended 
movements. Marshall at once fell into the trap; 
and the same night Brown set out for the Union 
camp, ostensibly to spy for the rebels, but really 
to tell the Union commander all that he knew of 
the rebel strength and position. He did not 
know Marshall's exact force, but he gave Garfield 
such facts, as enabled him to make, within half an 
hour, a tolerably accurate map of the rebel 
position. 

When this was done the Union colonel said to 
him : 

" Did Bent blindfold you, when he brought you 
into camp ?" 

" Yes, Colonel, I couldn't see my hand afore me." 

" Well, then, you had better go back directly to 
Marshall." 

" Go back to him ! Why, Colonel, he'll hang me 
to the first tree ! " 

"•No he won't, if you tell him all about my 
strenpfth and intended movements." 

o 



ON THE MARCH. 



167 



" But how kin I ? I don't know a thing-. I tell 
ye I was blindfolded." 

" Yes, but that don't prevent your guessing at 
our numbers and movements. You may say, that 
I shall march to-morrow straight for his camp and 
in ten days be upon him.' 

Brown sat for a moment musing. Then he said: 

"Wall, Colon'l, ye'd be a durned fool — and if 
ye's that, ye must hev growed to it, since we were 
on ther canal — ef ye went upon Marshall, trenched 
as he is, with a man short on twenty thousand. I 
kin ' guess ' ye's that many," 

" Guess aeain. I haven't that number." 1 

" Then, ten thousand." 

" Well, that will do for a Kentuckian. Now, 
to-day, I will keep you under lock and key, and 
to-night you can go back to Marshall." 

At nightfall, Brown set out for the rebel camp ; 
and, on the following day, Garfield moved his 
litde army, reduced by sickness and garrison-duty 
to fourteen hundred. 

It was a toilsome march. The roads were knee- 
deep in mire. Though encumbered with only a 
light train, the army made very slow progress. 
Some days it marched five or six miles, and some 
considerably less ; but on January 6th, it arrived 
within seven miles of Paintville. Here the men 
threw themselves upon the wet ground; and Gar- 
field lay down in his boots, in a wretched log-hut, 
to catch a few hours of slumber. 



J 53 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

About midnight, he was aroused from sleep by 
a man, who said that his business was urgent. The 
colonel rubbed his eyes, and raised himself on his 
elbow. 

"Back safe?" he asked. "Have you seen 
Cranor ?" 

"Yes, Colonel, He can't be any more than two 
days behind me." 

" God bless you, Jordan ! You have done us a 
great service," said Garfield, warmly. 

" I thank you. Colonel," answered Jordan, his face 
trembling. " That is more pay than I expected." 

He had returned safely ; but Providence which 
had so wonderfully guarded his way out, seemed 
to leave him to find his way back ; for, as he ex- 
pressed it, "The Lord cared more for the dispatch 
than He cared for me ; and it was natural He 
should, because my life counts only one, but the 
dispatch stood for the whole of Kentucky." 

Next morning, another horseman rode up to the 
Union head-quarters. He was a messenger direct 
from General Buell, and had followed Garfield up 
the Big Sandy with dispatches. They contained 
only a few hurried sentences from a man to a 
woman ; but their value was not to be estimated in 
money. It was a letter from Marshall to his wife, 
which Buell had intercepted, and which revealed 
the important fact, that the rebel general had five 
thousand men — four thousand four hundred in- 
fantry and six hundred cavalry — with twelve pieced 




THE FIGHT AT PAINTVILLE. 



FORWARD IT IS. 



171 



of artillery, and was daily expecting an attack from 
a Union force of ten thousand ! 

Garfield put the letter in his pocket, and called 

a council of his officers. They assembled in the 

rude log-shanty, and the question was put to them : 

" Shall we march at once, or await the coming of 

Cranor ?" 

All but one said " Wait ! " He said, " Move at 
once. Our fourteen hundred can whip ten thou- 
sand rebels." 

Garfield, reflecting awhile, closed the council 
with the laconic remark: "Well, forward it is. 
Give the order." 

Three roads led to the rebel position — one to 
the east, bearing down to the river and along its 
western bank; another, a circuitous one, to the 
west, coming in on Paint Creek at the mouth of 
Jenny's Creek, on the right of the village ; and a 
third between the two others, a route more direct 
but climbing a succession of almost impassable 
ridges. These three roads were held by strong 
rebel-pickets ; and a regiment was outlying at the 
village of Paintville." 

The diagram opposite will show the situation. 
To deceive Marshall as to his real strength and 
designs, Garfield orders a small force of infantry 
and cavalry to advance along the river road, drive 
in the rebel pickets, and move rapidly as if to at- 
tack Paintville. Two hours after, a similar force, 
with the same orders, sets off on the road to the 



Ij2 ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

westward ; and two hours later still another small 
party takes the middle road. The effect is, that the 
pickets on the first road, vigorously attacked, re- 
tire in confusion to Paintville, and send word to 
Marshall, that the Union arrtiy is advancing along 
the river. He hurries off a thousand infantry and 
a battery to resist the advance of this imaginary 
column. An hour and a half later, Marshall hears 
from the routed pickets on his left, that the Union 
forces are advancing along the western road. 
Countermanding his first order, he now directs the 
thousand men and the battery to meet the new 
danger, and hurries off the troops at Paintville, to 
make a stand at the mouth of Jenny's Creek. 
Two hours later the pickets on the central route 
are driven in; and finding Paintville abandoned, 
they flee precipitately to the fortified camp with 
the story, that the whole Union army is close at 
their heels, and already occupying the town. 
Conceiving that he has thus lost Paintville, Marshall 
hastily withdraws the detachment of a thousand 
to his camp; and Garfield, moving rapidly over 
the ridges of the central route, occupies the aban- 
doned position. 

This is the situation on the evening of the 8th 
of January, when a rebel spy enters the camp of 
Marshall with tidings that Cranor, with three thou- 
sand three hundred men, is within twelve hours' 
march at the westward. 

On receipt of these tidings, the rebel general, 



DETERMINED TO FIGHT 



173 



conceiving himself vastly outnumbered, breaks up 
his camp, which he might have held for a twelve- 
month, and retreats precipitately, abandoning or 
burning a large portion of his supplies. Seeing 
the fires, Garfield mounts his horse, and with a 
thousand men enters the deserted camp at nine in 
the evening, while the blazing stores are yet un- 
consumed. He sends a detachment to harass the 
rebel retreat, and awaits the arrival of Cranor, 
when he means to follow Marshall and bring him 
to battle. 

In the morninof Cranor comes, but his men are 
footsore, hungry and completely exhausted. But 
the Union commander is determined to give bat- 
tle. Every man therefore, who has strength to 
march, is ordered to come forward. Eleven hun- 
dred, and among them four hundred of Cranor's 
tired heroes, step from the ranks. With these, at 
noon of the 9th, Garfield sets out for Prestonburg, 
sending all his available cavalry to follow the line 
of the enemy's retreat, and harass and destroy 
him. 

Marching eighteen miles, he reaches, at nine 
o'clock at night, the mouth of Abbott's Creek, 
three miles below Prestonburg. There he learns 
that Marshall is encamped three miles further up 
the stream. Throwing his men into bivouac in 
the midst of a sleety rain, he sends back an order 
to Lieutenant-Colonel Sheldon, who had been left 
in command at Paintville, to bring up every avail- 
15 



J -. . THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

able man with all possible dispatch, for he shall 
force the enemy to battle in the morning. He 
spends the night in learning the character of the 
surrounding country, and the disposition of Mar- 
shall's forces, and makes a hasty dinner of stewed 
rabbit from a tin-cup, sharing the single spoon and 
the stew with one of his officers. 

Jordan, the scout, now comes into play once 
more. A dozen rebels are grinding at a mill ; 
and a dozen honest men come upon them, steal 
their corn and take them prisoners. The miller 
is a tall, gaunt man ; and his " butternuts " fit 
Jordan, as if they were made for him. He is a 
rebel too, and his very raiment bears witness 
against this feeding of his enemies. It goes back 
to the rebel camp, and Jordan goes in it. That 
chameleon-face of his is smeared with meal, and 
looks the miller so well, that the miller's own wife 
could not have detected the difference. The night 
is so dark and rainy, that the danger is lessened. 
Yet Jordan is picking his teeth in the very jaws 
of the lion. 

Jordan's midnight-ramble in the rebel ranks 
gave Garfield the exact position of the enemy. 
They had made a stand, and laid an ambuscade 
for him. Strongly posted on a semi-circular hill 
at the forks of Middle Creek, commanding with 
their cannon the whole length of the road, and 
hidden by the trees and underbrush, they awaited 
his coming. 



E VE OE BA TTLE. 



/D 



Deeming' it unsafe to proceed further in the 
darkness, Garfield, as has been said, ordered his 
army into bivouac, at nine o'clock in the evening, 
and climbed the steep ridge called Abbott's Hill. 
His tired men threw themselves upon the wet 
ground to wait till morning. It was a terrible 







VIEW OF MIDDLE CREEK. 



night, a fit prelude to the terrible day, that fol- 
lowed. A dense fos: shut out the moon and stars, 
and shrouded the lonely mountain in almost Cim- 
merian darkness. A cold wind swept from the 
north, driving the rain in blinding gusts into the 
faces of the shiverinsf men, and stirrinsj the dark 
fires into the cadences of a mournful music. But 
the slow and cheerless night at last wore away; 

and at four in the morning the tired and hungry 
M 



176. 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



men, with their icy clothing clinging to their half- 
frozen limbs, were aroused from their cold .beds 
and ordered to move forward. Slowly and cau- 
tiously they descended into the valley, which to 
so many of them seemed the Valley of the Shadow 
of Death. The enemy was awaiting them ; they 
were awaiting the enemy. The last bivouac had 
been made ; and there was nothing left but to ad- 
vance and measure their strength with the foe. 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE BATTLE OF MIDDLE CREEK. 



A 



S the day breaks In the east, and the gray 
mists, that have been the blankets of 
Garfield's little force, are slowly lifted from 
the inhospitable ground, the advance-guard, round- 
ing a hill, that juts out into the valley, is charged 
by a body of rebel horsemen. Forming his men 
in a hollow square, Garfield gives the rebels a 
volley, that sends them reeling up the valley, one 
only plunges into the stream, and is captured. 

The main body of the enemy, it is now evident, 
is not far distant; but, whether he has changed his 
position since the visit of the scout Jordan, is yet 
uncertain. To determine this, Garfield sends for- 
ward a strong corps of skirmishers, who sweep the 
cavalry from a ridge, which they have occupied, 
and moving forward, soon draw the fire of the hid- 
den rebels. Suddenly a puff of smoke rises from 
beyond the hills ; and a twelve-pound shell whistles 
above the trees, and, plowing up the hill, buries 
itself in the grround at the feet of the adventurous 
little band of skirmishers. 

It is now twelve o'clock. Throwing his whole 
force upon the ridge, whence the rebel cavalry 
have been driven, Garfield prepares for the im*- 
15* (177) 



„o THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

175 

pending battle. It is a trying and perilous mo- 
ment. He is in the presence of a greatly superior 
enemy; and how to dispose his Htde force, and 
where first to attack, are not easily determined. 
But he loses no time in idle indecision. Looking 
into the faces of his eleven hundred men, he ad- 
vances to the terrible struggle. His mounted 
escort of twelve soldiers he sends forward to make 
a charge, and, if possible, to draw the fire of the 
enemy. The ruse succeeds admirably. As the 
little squad sweeps round a curve in the road, 
another shell whisdes through the valley; and the 
loner roll of nearly five thousand muskets chimes 
in with a fierce salutation. The batde has begun 

in earnest. 

A o-larce at the ground will best show the real 
natur'^e oi the conflict. It was on the margin of 
Middle Creek, a narrow and rapid stream, three 
miles from where it finds its way into the Big 
Sandy through the sharp spurs of the Cumberland 
Mountains. A rocky road, not ten feet in width, 
winds along this stream ; and on its two banks 
steep and rocky ridges, overgrown with trees and 
underbrush, shut closely down upon the narrow 
road and litde streamlet. At twelve o'clock Gar- 
field gained the crest of the ridge at the right of 
the road; and the charge of his handful of horse- 
men drew Marshall's fire and disclosed his actual 
position. It will be clearly seen from the accom- 
, panying diagram. 



THE BATTLE. l8l 

The main force of the rebels occupied the crests 
of the two ridores at the left of the stream ; but a 
strong detachment was posted on the right, and a 
battery of twelve pieces held the forks of the 
creek and commanded the approach of the Union 
army. It was Marshall's plan to lure Garfield 
along the road, take him between two enfilading 
fires, and surround and utterly destroy him. 
But his hasty fire betrayed his design and un- 
masked his position. 

Garfield acts with promptness and decision. A 
hundred undergraduates, recruited from his own 
coUeee, are ordered to cross the stream, climb the 
the ridee, whence the fire had been hottest, and 
bring on the batde. Boldly the litde band 
plunges into the creek, waist-deep in the icy water, 
and, clinging to the trees and underbrush, climb 
the rocky ascent. Half way up the ridge the fire 
of at least two thousand rifles opens upon them; 
but springing from tree to tree, they press on, and 
at last reach the summit. Then suddenly the hill 
is gray with rebels, who, rising from ambush, pour 
their deadly volleys into the litde band of a hun- 
dred. For a moment there are signs of wavering, 
when their leader calls out: " Every man to a tree ! 
Give them as good as they send, my brave Ber- 
eans!" 

The rebels, behind rocks and rude intrench- 
ments, are obliged to expose their heads while 
taking aim at the assailing column ; but the Union 



1 82 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



troops, posted behind the huge oaks and maples, 
can stand erect, load and fire fully protected. 
Though they are outnumbered ten to one, the 
contest is therefore for a time not so very unequal. 
But soon the rebels, exasperated with the obsti- 
nate resistance, rush from their cover and charge 
upon the little handful with the bayonet. Slowly 
they are driven down the hill; and two of them 
fall to the ground wounded. One never rises; 
the other, a lad of only eighteen, is shot through 
the thiofh, and one of his comrades turns back to 
bear him to a place of safety. The advancing 
rebels are within thirty feet, when one of them fir- 
ing strikes a tree directly above the head of a 
Union soldier. He turns, fires his musket, and 
the rebel falls dead. Then the rest are upon him ; 
but ziezaofinor from tree to tree, he is soon with 
his retreating column. Not far however are the 
brave boys driven. A few rods lower down they 
hear the voice of their leader. 

"To the trees again, my boys," he cries, "We 
may as well die here as in Ohio !" 

In a moment the advancing horde is checked, 
and rolled backward. Up the hill they turn, firing 
as they go, while the little band follows. Soon 
the rebels reach the spot, where the Berean boy 
lies wounded ; and one of them says to him : 

" Boy, guv me yer musket." 

" Not the gun but its contents," returns the lad; 
and the rebel falls, mortally wounded. Another 



THE HE A T OF BA TTLE. I g ^ 

raises his weapon to brain the prostrate lad, but 
he too falls, killed with his comrade's own rifle. 
All this Is done while the nero-lad lies on the 
ground bleedine. An hour afterward, his com- 
rades bear him to a sheltered spot on the other 
side of the streamlet. Then the first word of com- 
plaint escapes him. As they are taking off his 
leg, he says, in his agony : " Oh, what will mother 
do?" 

A fortnight later, the words of this patient, pa- 
triotic lad — Charles Carlton, of Franklin, Ohio — 
repeated In the Senate of Ohio, aroused the State 
to make provision at once for the widows and 
mothers of its soldiers. 

As the college-boys retreat, the quick eye of 
the Union commander, who stood upon a rocky 
height on the other side of the narrow valley, dis- 
cerns, through the densely-curling smoke, the real 
state of the unequal contest. " They are being 
driven," he says ; " they will lose the hill unless 
supported." 

Immediately, five hundred of the Ohio Fortieth 
and Forty-second, under Major Pardee and Colo- 
nel Cranor, are ordered to the rescue. Holding 
their cartridge-boxes above their heads, they dash 
into the steam, up the hill, and Into the fight, 
shouting: 

" Hurrah for Williams and the brave Bereans!" 

But shot, shell, and canister, and the fire of four 
thousand muskets, are now concentrated upon the 
few hundred heroes. 



i84 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



"This will never do," cries Garfield. "Who 
will volunteer to carry the crest of the mountain ?" 

"We will!" shouts Colonel Munroe, of the 
Fourteenth Kentucky. " We know every inch of 
the ground." 

" Go in, then," cries Garfield, " and give them 
Hail Columbia!" 

Fording the stream lower down, they climb the 
ridge to the left, and in ten minutes are upon the 
enemy. Like the others, these rebels are posted 
behind rocks ; but their heads, when uncovered, 
soon become ghastly targets for the sure Kentucky 
rifles. 

" Take good aim, and don't shoot till you see 
the eyes of your enemy," shouts the brave col- 
onel. 

Although the men have never been under fire, 
in a few moments they are as cool as if at one of 
the traditional Kentucky turkey-matches. " Do 
you see that reb?" says one to his comrade, as a 
head appears above the rock. " Hit him while I'm 
loading." Another is bringing his cartridge to 
his mouth, when a bullet cuts away the powder 
and leaves the lead in his fingers. Shielding his 
arm with his body, he says, as he turns from the 
foe and rams home another cartridge ; " There, 
see if you can hit that!" Another takes out a 
piece of hard-tack, which a ball shivers in his 
hand. Swallowing the remnant, he coolly fires 
away again. Another is brought down by a ball 



HAND TO HAND, 



185 



I the knee. Lying on the ground, rifle in hand, 
e watches for the man who shot him. Soon the 
ibel raises his head above a rock ; and the two 
re at the same instant. The Union man is 
iruck in the mouth ; but, as he is borne down the 
ill, he splutters out : " Never mind ! that secesh 

done for." The next morning^ the rebel was 
)und with the whole upper part of his head shot 
way 

The brave Kentuckiane climb up the side of the 
lountain. Now they are hidden in the underbrush, 
ow sheltered by the great trees, and now fully 
reposed in some narrow opening ; but gradually 
ley near the crest of the ridge, and at last are 
n its very summit. As they come in open sight, 
rebel cries out: 

*' How many are there of you "? 

" Twenty-five millions, d n you," shouts back 

Kentucky Union officer. 

Then comes a terrible hand-to-hand struggle, 
he little band of less than four hundred, over- 
owered by numbers, are driven far down the 
lountain. 

Meanwhile another cannon has opened on the 
ill ; and round shot and canister fall thickly among 
le weary eleven hundred. Seeing his advance 
bout to waver, the Union commander sends 
olley after volley from his entire reserve at the 
sntral point between his two detachments ; and 
)r a time the fire of the enemy is silenced in that 
16 



i86 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



quarter. When it again opens, Garfield orders all 
but a chosen hundred upon the mountain. 
There the battle grows terrible. Thick and thicker 
swarm the rebels on the crest ; sharp and sharper 
rolls the musketry along the valley ; and, as volley 
after volley echoes among the hills, and the white i 
smoke curls up in long wreaths from the gleaming 
rifles, a dense cloud gathers overhead, as if to 
shut out the scene of carnage from the eye of 
Heaven. 

So the bloody work goes on ; so the battle ^ 
wavers, till the setting sun, sinking below the hills, 
o-lances alone die dense line of rebel steel, as it 
moves down to envelop the weary eleven hundred. 
It is an awful moment, big with the immediate fate 
of Kentucky. At this crisis two figures stand out 
boldly against the fading sky. 

One is in Union blue, with a little band of 
heroes about him. He is posted on a projecting 
rock, which, scarred with bullets, is in full view of 
both armies. His head is uncovered; his hair 
streaming in the wind ; his face upturned in the 
darkening daylight; and his soul going out in 
prayer — a prayer for Sheldon and reinforcements. 
He turns his eyes to the northward, and his lips 
tighten. Then, pulling off his coat and throwing 
it into a tree-top out of reach, he says to his hundred 
men : 

" Boys, we must go at them." 

The men throw up their caps with a wild shout 



THE CRISIS. 



187 



and rush on following the Union colonel,who leads 
them at a run, and in his shirt sleeves. 

The other figure is \n rebel gray. Moving to 
the brow of the opposite hill, and placing a glass 
to his eye, he too takes a long look to the north- 
ward. Suddenly he starts, for he sees something, 
which the other on lower ground does not dis- 
tinguish. Soon he wheels his horse ; and the 
word, " Retreat," echoes along the valley. It is 
his last word; for six rifles crack, and the rebel 
major lies on the ground quivering. The one in 
blue looks to the north again, as he clambers up 
the mountain, and now sees that starry banner 
floating proudly among the trees, which is the 
symbol of liberty and life for millions. It is Sheldon 
and his forces. On they come, like the rushing 
wind, filling the air with their shouting. The 
rescued eleven hundred take up the strain; and 
above the noisy pursuit, above the lessening con- 
flict, above the last boom of smoking cannon, rises 
the wild huzza of victory. 

As they return from the short pursuit, the young 
commander grasps man after man by the hand, 
and says : 

" God bless you, boys ! You have saved Ken- 
tucky !" 

They had saved it in a wonderful battle. Says 
that genial writer, Edmund Kirke : " In the his- 
tory of the late war, there is not another like it. 
Measured by the forces engaged, the valor dis- 



i88 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



played and the results that followed, it throws into 
the shade the achievements of even that mighty 
host that saved the nation. Eleven hundred foot- 
sore and weary men, without cannon, charged up 
a rocky hill, over stumps, over stones, over fallen 
trees, over high intrenchments, right into the face 
of five thousand fresh troops, with twelve pieces 
of artillery." 

To the reader, this action may seem insignifi- 
cant, but it was of considerable importance to the 
Federal armies at this juncture. Captain F. H. 
I\Iason, in his history of the Forty-second Ohio 
Infantry, defines its place in history : 

"The batde of Middle Creek, trifling though it 
may be considered in comparison with later con- 
tests, was the first substantial victory won for the 
Union cause. At Big Bethel, at Bull Run, in Mis- 
souri, and at various points at which the Union 
and Confederate forces had come in contact, the 
latter had been uniformly victorious. The people 
of the North, giving freely of their men and their 
substance in response to each successive call of 
the government, had long and anxiously watched 
and waited for a litde gleam of victory to show 
that northern valor was a match for southern im- 
petuosity in the field. They had waited in vain 
since the disaster at Bull Run, during the previous 
summer, and hope had almost yielded to despair. 
The story of Garfield's success at Middle Creek 
came, therefore, like a benediction to the Union 



VICTORY. 



189 



cause. Though won at a trifling cost it was deci- 
sive so far as concerned the purposes of that im- 
mediate campaign. Marshall's force was driven 
from Kentucky, and made no further attempt to 
occupy the Sandy Valley. The important victo- 
ries at Mill Spring, Forts Donaldson and Henry, 
and the repulse at Shiloh, followed. The victory 
at Mill Creek proved the first wave of a returning 
tide." 

Speaking of the engagement, Garfield said, after 
he had gained a wider experience in war : " It was 
a very rash and imprudent affair on my part. If 
I had been an officer of more experience, I prob- 
ably should not have made the attack. As it was, 
having gone into the army with the notion that 
fighting was our business, I didn't know any 
better." 

"And, during it all," says Judge Clark, who was 
in the Forty-second, " Garfield was the soldier's 
friend. Such was his affection for his men that 
he would divide his last rations with them, and 
nobody ever found anything better at head-quar- 
ters than the rest got." 



16* 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE CAPTURE OF POUND GAP. 

THE night closed in upon the happy, but 
tired men, who spent the long watches of 
it on the frozen ground. Garfield took 
this time to consider the situation. Marshall's for- 
ces were broken and demoralized. Though in full 
retreat, they might be overtaken and destroyed ; 
but his own troops were half dead with fatigue 
and exposure, and had less than three days' ra- 
tions. Under these circumstances, Garfield pru- 
dcndy decided to occupy Prestonburg, and await 
the arrival of supplies before dealing a final blow 
at the enemy. On the day succeeding the battle 
he issued the following address to his army, which 
tells, in brief, the story of the campaign : 

"Soldiers of the Eighteenth Brigade: I am 
proud of you all ! In four weeks you have 
marched some eighty, and some a hundred miles, 
over almost impassable roads. One night in four 
you have slept, often in the storm, with only a 
wintry sky above your heads. You have marched 
in the face of a foe more than double your num- 
ber, led on by chiefs who have won a national re- 
nown under the old flag, intrenched in hills of his 
own choosing, and strengthened by all the appli- 
(190) 



THE TROOPS CONGRATULATED. jgj 

ances of military art. With no experience but the 
consciousness of your own manhood, you have 
driven him from his strongholds, pursued his in- 
glorious flight, and compelled him to meet you in 
battle. When forced to fight, he sought the shel- 
ter of rocks and hills. You drove him from his 
position, leaving scores of his bloody dead un- 
buried. His artillery thundered against you, but 
you compelled him to flee by the light of his burn- 
ing stores, and to leave even the banner of his 
rebellion behind him. I greet you as brave men. 
Our common country will not forget you. She 
will not forget the sacred dead who fell beside 
you, nor those of your comrades who won scars 
of honor on the field. I have recalled you from 
the pursuit, that you may regain vigor for still 
greater exertions. Let no one tarnish his well- 
earned honor by any act unworthy an American 
soldier. Remember your duties as American citi- 
zens, and sacredly respect the rights and property 
of those with whom you may come in contact. 
Let it not be said that good men dread the ap- 
proach of an American army. Ofilicers and sol- 
diers, your duty has been nobly done. For this I 
thank you." 

The retreat of Marshall had by no means dis- 
pelled the dangers, by which the small army of the 
Union colonel was hampered. A fresh peril now 
beset it. An unusually violent rain-storm broke 
out; the mountain gorges were all flooded; and 



jQ^ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the Big- Sandy rose to such a height, that steam- 
boat-men pronounced it impossible to ascend the 
stream with supplies. The troops were almost 
out of rations ; and the rough, mountainous coun- 
try was incapable of supporting them. Colonel 
Garfield had eone to the mouth of the river. He 
ordered the "Sandy Valley," a small steamer, 
which had been in the quarter-master's service, to 
take in a load of supplies and start up. The cap- 
tain declared it impossible. Efforts were made to 
get other vessels, but without success. 

Finally, Garfield ordered the captain and crew 
on board, and stationed himself at the wheel. The 
captain still protested, that no boat could possibly 
stem the raging current; but Garfield turned her 
head up the stream and began the perilous trip. 
The water in the usually shallow river was sixty 
feet deep ; and the tree-tops along the banks were 
almost submerged. The litde vessel trembled 
trom stem to stern at every motion of the engines; 
tlic water whirled her about as if she were a skiff; 
and the utmost speed, which the steam could give 
her was three miles an hour. When night fell, the 
captain ol the boat begged permission to tie up. 
To attempt ascending the flood in the darkness 
\va% madness. But Garfield kept his place at the 
wheel, now, as always, no mere considerations of 
clanger, affecdng his purpose. Finally, in one of 
the sudden bends of the river they drove, with a 
full head of steam, into the quicksand of the bank. 
Every effort to back off was in vain. Mattocks 



PILOTING A steamer: jg, 

were procured; and excavations were made in 
vain around the embedded bow. Garfield, at last, 
ordered a boat to be lowered to take a line to the 
opposite bank. The crew protested against ven- 
turing out on the flood. Garfield leaped into the 
boat and steered it over. The force of the current 
carried them far below the point, which they sought 
to reach ; but they finally succeeded in making fast 
to a tree, and rigging a windlass with rails suf- 
ficiently powerful to float the vessel once more. 

It was Saturday, when the boat left the mouth 
of the Big Sandy. All night, all day Sunday, and 
throughout Sunday night they kept up their 
strueele with the current, Garfield leavino^ the 
wheel only eight hours out of the whole time, and 
that during the day. By nine o'clock on Monday 
morning they reached the camp, and were re- 
ceived with tumultuous cheering. Garfield him- 
self could hardly escape being borne to head- 
quarters on the shoulders of the delighted men. 

It was but natural, that the confused retreat of 
Marshall's troops should have occasioned an alarm 
among the simple country-people. The flying 
rebels had spread the most exaggerated reports 
of the strength and character of the Union forces ; 
and the inhabitants of the district looked for the im- 
mediate inauguration of a reign of terror, that 
should deprive all non-combatants of life and lib- 
erty. Fleeing from their homes, they took refuge 
in the woods and mountains, almost deserting the 
towns for a time. 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

1 94 

On his return with supphes, Garfield determined 
to attempt to quiet the frightened people. He 
accordingly issued the following proclarnation : 

Citizens of the Sandy Valley : I have come among 
you to restore the honor of the Union, and to bring back the 
old banner which you all once loved, but which, by the 
machinations of evil men, and by mutual misunderstanding, 
has been dishonored among you. To those who are in arms 
against the Federal Government I offer only the alternative 
of battle or unconditional surrender. But to those who have 
taken no part in this war, who are in no way aiding or abet- 
ting the enemies of this Union — even to those who hold 
sentiments averse to the Union, but yet give no aid or com- 
fort to its enemies — I offer the full protection of the Govern- 
ment, both in their persons and property. 

Let those who have been seduced away from the love of 
their country, to follow after and aid the destroyers of our 
l)eacc, lay down their arms, return to their homes, bear true 
allegiance to the Federal Government, and they also shall en- 
joy like protection. The army of the Union wages no war 
of plunder, but comes to bring back the prosperity of peace. 
Let all peace-loving citizens who have fled from their homes 
return and resume again the pursuits of peace and industry. 
If citizens have suffered from any outrages by the soldiers 
under my command, I invite them to make known their 
complaints to me, and their wrongs shall be redressed and the 
offenders punished. I expect the friends of the Union in this 
valley to banish from among them all private feuds, and to 
let a liberal-minded love of country direct their conduct 
toward those who have been so sadly estranged and mis- 
guided. I hope that these days of turbulence may soon end, 
and the days of the Republic may soon return. 

J. A. Garfield, 

Colonel Commandinz Brirade. 



FOSTERING UNION SENTIMENT. j g c 

Eiicourag-ed by this promise of protection, the 
people soon issued from their hiding--places and 
began to flock about the Union iiead-quarters. 
From them Garfield obtained various reports of 
the whereabouts and intentions of Marshall. By 
some he was told that Marshall, reinforced by three 
Virginia regiments and six field-pieces, had made 
a stand and was fortifying himself in a strong 
position, about thirty miles above, on the waters 
of the Big Beaver. Others claimed to know, that 
he was merely collecting provisions and preparing 
to retreat Into Tennessee, as soon as the runs and 
rivers should become passable. 

All Information pointed to the fact, that Mar- 
shall had made a, stand, and was still within the 
limits of Kentucky. Garfield, having decided 
to learn his exact position, dispatched a body 
of one hundred cavalry, under Captain Jenkins 
of Ohio, with orders to go up the Big Sandy as 
far as Piketon, and not to return until he had 
ascertained the position and intentions of the 
enemy. 

From information brought back by Captain 
Jenkins, and reports gathered from other sources 
— mainly from the scout Jordan — during the suc- 
ceeding weeks Garfield was quite well posted 
about the movements of Marshall, who was still 
sufficiently near to be obnoxious. 

Pound Gap, a wild and Irregular opening in the 
Cumberland Mountains, about forty-five miles 



196 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



south-east of Piketon, leads into Virginia. It is the 
only avenue for wagon-communication between 
the southern portions of "V^irginia and Kentucky, 
deriving its name from the fertile tract of meadow- 
land, which skirts the southerly base of the moun- 
tains, and is enclosed by a narrow stream called 
Pound P^ork. In the early history of the district, 




VIEW OF POUND GAP. 

this mountain-locality was the home of a tribe of 
Indians, who made constant expeditions into Vir- 
ginia in search of plunder. Returning with the 
stolen cattle of the settlers, they pastured them in 
this meadow-inclosure. For this reason it was 
christened the " Pound" — a name, which was in 
time, extended to both the gap and the streamlet. 
In this " Pound, ' and on the summit of the 
gorge, through which the road passes, the rebels 
had built log-huts, capable of quartering more than 
a thousand men ; and, to make their position im- 
pregnable, they had built directly across the 



A REBEL AEST. jpy 

Gap a formidable breast-work; which completely 
blocked up the way, and behind which five hundred 
men could resist successfully five thousand. The 
Gap was garrisoned* by about six hundred rebel 
militia under Major Thompson. Though iticapa- 
ble of effective service in the field, these troops 
had been of no small value to the rebel cause by 
holding this gateway into \^irginia, and establish- 
ing a constant reign of terror among all the loyal 
citizens of the surrounding country. Imitating the 
Indians, the rebels would issue from this strong- 
hold in small parties, descend to the valleys, rob 
and murder the peaceful inhabitants, and, before 
pursuit was possible, would once more be behind 
their protecting breastworks. Many of these 
predatory bands had been captured through the 
ceaseless activity of the Kentucky cavalry ; but, 
as soon as one party was captured, another would 
start out from the stronghold to continue the work 
of spoliation, and perpetuate the reign of blood. 
It soon became evident, that the only way to 
effectually stop these inroads was to break up for- 
ever the nest on the mountain. This Garfield had 
long determined to do. He waited only for re- 
liable information about the strength and position 
of the rebels, and for a definite description of the 
route to the rear of their intrenchments. 

This information the scout Jordan, after sur- 
mounting many difficulties and encountering great 
dangers, was enabled to supply. He made for 
17 



I9S 



THE LIFE OF FKESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Garfield an accurate map of the position, and 
wrote to him as follows : 

"General Marshall has issued an order for a 
grand muster of the rebel rfiilitia on the 15th of 
March. They are to meet at the 'Pound' in the 
rear of their intrenchments, and it is expected they 
will muster in sufficient strength to enter Ken- 
tucky and drive the Union forces before them." 

Garfield at once determined to forestall the in- 
tended gathering and to break up the entire 
swarm of o-uerillas. He set out on the following 
morning wdth three days' rations in the haversacks 
of his men, and a quantity of provisions packed 
on the backs of mules. He took with him two 
hundred and twenty of the Fortieth Ohio under 
Colonel Cranor, two hundred of the Forty-second 
Ohio under Major Pardee, one hundred and 
eighty of the Twenty-second Kentucky under 
Major Cook, and a hundred cavalry under Major 
McLaughlin, a total of seven hundred. 

The roads were deep with mud ; and the count- 
Irss rivulets, that wind throuorh this mountainous 
region, were filled with ice and swollen to the size 
ol respectable torrents. The litde army made 
li ;ht of its difficulties, however, and pressed on 
wiih perseverance over the rough roads in the 
midst of die drenching rain. Late on the second 
day Elkhorn Creek was reached, a small stream, 
whicli Hows along the northern base of the moun- 
rains and empties into the Big Sandy, only two 



FLAN AGAINST FOUXD GAP. j qq 

miles below the rebel position. Here the troops 
went into camp on the wet ground, and awaited 
the coming of dawn. 

Garfield's plan was to send his cavalry up the 
road to make a demonstration against the enemy's 
intrenchments, and to engage his attention, while 
he, with the infantry, should climb the steep side 
of the mountain, and, filing along a narrow ledge 
of rocks at the summit, reach the Gap, and attack 
the rebels upon the flank. Since absolute secrecy 
was required, every male resident of the vicinity 
was brought into camp and detained, that he might 
not carry information to the enemy. Questions 
were asked of every one about a practicable route 
to the rear of the rebel intrenchments. There 
was none. The mountain was steep, and in many 
places precipitous ; and it was tangled with dense 
thickets, obstructed with fallen logs, and covered 
with huge boulders, which, coated with ice and 
snow, formed an almost impassable barrier to the 
passage of any living thing, save the panther or 
the catamount. Then again, even if the adven- 
turous band succeeded in gaining the mountain- 
summit in the face of these obstacles, they would 
still have to traverse for along distance the nar- 
row ledge, buried three feet in trecherous snow, 
where one false step would be dangerous — a place, 
where ten men could dispute the passage of ten 
thousand. 

Though tempted with liberal offers of money, 



200 



rnE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GA'R FIELD. 



not one of the " natives " would undertake to 
guide the expedition on its perilous journey. Gar- 
field lay down at midnight on the floor of a miser- 
able log-shanty, near the foot of the mountains. 
The prospect was in no way encouraging. Even 
if failure was to be the reward of his pains, he de- 
termined to scale the mountain in the morninof. 
With these thoughts in his mind, he dropped off 
to sleep. Before morning he was aroused by a 
number of men entering his apartment, one of 
whom said : 

" Colonel, this old fellow has just come into 
camp, and offers to guide us over the mountains. 
He says he knows every road of this region, and 
can lead us to the rebel nest in safety." 

Garfield raised himself from his blanket, and by 
the dim light of the logs, that were smouldering 
on the heardi, looked narrowly at the old native. 
He was apparendy not far from seventy, with a 
tall, bent form, and long hair and beard, which 
were almost of snowy whiteness. He wore the 
common homespun of the district, and over his 
shoulder carried, slung by a stout leather thong, 
a brighdy-burnished squirrel-rifle. His enormous 
beard and huge slouch hat more than half hid his 
face ; but enough of it was exposed to show a 
tawny, smoke-begrimed skin, and strongly-marked, 
determined features. Hastily scanning him from 
head to foot, the Union officer, opening conversa- 
tion, said, smiling: 



SECURING A GUIDE. 20I 

" You ! old man, do you think you can climb 
the mountain ?" 

" I hev done it, Gineral, many and many a 
time," said the " native " in a voice, that sounded 
much like a cracked kettle. 

•' I know, but in winter the slope is a sheet of 
ice with three feet of snow on the summit." 

" I komed down it not ten days ago. Whar I 
kin come down, ye kin go up." 

" I should think so — up or down. Is there a 
bridle path we can follow?" 

" Yes, eight miles below. But ye'd better make 
yer own path. Ye must cum unto them unbe- 
known and sudden, and to do that ye must foller 
the path squirrels travel." 

" And do you think we can get over it safely ?" 

" Yes, if ye's men of narve, as means to do 
what they has come about," 

" Well," continued Garfield, after a pause, "what 
induces an old man like you to undertake a thing 
so hazardous ?" 

"The hope to rid ther kentry of a set of 
murderin' thieves, as is carrying terror and death 
inter every poor man's home in all the valley," 
said he, solemnly. 

" And what reward do you look for ?" 

" Nary reward — only your word, that I shall go 
as I come, with no one to let or hinder me." 

Garfield took a long, steady look at him, and 
finally replied : 
17* 



2o-> THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

" Very well. I'll trust you. Be here early in 
the morning," 

When the morning came, the snow was falling 
so thickly, that objects only a few rods distant 
were totally invisible. At nine o'clock, the little 
body of cavalry was started up the road to engage 
the attendon of the enemy and draw him from his 
intrenchments. Then the infantry was set in mo- 
tion. In a long, bristling, serpent-like column, 
catching at every twig, and shrub, and fallen log 
that lay in their way, they clambered slowly up the 
icy mountain-side, the old guide leading the way 
and steadying his steps with the long iron-shod 
staff in use amono- mountaineers. The ridee at 
this point rises two thousand feet above the valley, 
and half-way up breaks into abrupt precipices, 
which seem to defy the approach of any foot but 
that of deer. After a hard scramble through the 
tangled thickets, over the ice-coated rocks, and 
along the steep ridge which crowns the summit of 
the mountain, the nadve, turning sharply to the 
left, said to Garfield : 

" You are now within half a mile of the rebel 
posidon. Yonder is their outside picket, but the 
way is clear. Press on at the double and you 
have them." 

The picket now descried the advancing column, 
and firing his gun, set out at the top of his speed 
for the rebel intrenchments. A dozen bullets 
made shrill music about his ears ; but he kept on, 



OPENING THE FIGHT. 



203 



followed by the eager blue-coats. When within 
sight of the rebel camp, a line was thrown down 
along the eastern slope of the mountain, and press- 
ing rapidly forward, was formed along the deep 
gorge, through which the high road passes. Up 




PICKETS ON DUTY. 

to this time the rebels had been skirmishing with 
the cavalry in front of their intrenchments ; but 
now they gathered on the hill directly opposite the 
advanced portion of the Union infantry. 

To try the range, Garfield sent a volley across 
the gorge. When the smoke cleared away, he 
saw the unformed rebel line melt away like mist 
into the opposite forest. The enemy's position 
beine now understood, the Fortieth and the Fortv- 
second Ohio were ordered to the already formed 
left wing, when along the line rang^ the words, 



204. ^-^^^ ^^P^ ^^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

" Press forward, scale the hill, and carry it with 
the bayonet!" 

A rino-ine shout was the only answer; and 
the long column swept down the ridge, across the 
ravine, through the rebel camp, and up the oppo- 
site mountain. The rebels gradually fell back 
among the trees ; but when the Union bayonets 
appeared on the hill, they broke and ran in the 
wildest confusion. The Unionists followed, firing 
as they ran; and for a few moments the moun- 
tains echoed with the quick reports of the Ohio 
rifles. Pursuit in the dense forest was impossible ; 
and soon the recall was sounded. 

Only one was killed and seven wounded. But 
this well-nigh bloodless victory rid Eastern Ken- 
tucky of rebel rule. The troops re-assembled 
and passed a comfortable night in the enemy's 
quarters, faring sumptuously upon the captured 
viands. The next morning the cabins, sixty in 
number, were burned, and the breastworks de- 
stroyed. Garfield, leaving the Gap, reached Pike- 
ton the followinof nieht, havlne been absent four 
days, and having marched during that time about 
one hundred miles over a rough country. 

Six days after he received orders to leave a 
small garrison at Piketon, and to transfer the rest 
of his command, as rapidly as possible, to Louis- 
ville. 

This campaign on the Big Sandy more than 
justified every hope of Garfield's friends, and won 



OFFICIALL Y COMMENDED. 



205 



him an enviable military reputation. The opera- 
tions in the Sandy Valley had been conducted 
with such energy and skill as to receive the 
special commendation of the commanding-general, 
and of the Government. General Buell moved 
to words of unwonted praise, issued the following 
congratulatory order: 

Head-quarters Department of the Ohio, 

Louisville, Ky., January 20th, 1862. 

General Orders, No. 40. 

The General Commanding takes occasion to thank Colonel 
Garfield and his troops for their successful campaign against 
the rebel force under General Marshall, on the Big Sandy, 
and their gallant conduct in battle. They have overcome 
formidable difficulties in the character of country, the con- 
dition of the roads, and the inclemency of the season ; and, 
without artillery, have in several engagements, terminating in 
the battle on Middle Creek on the loth inst., driven the 
enemy from his intrenched position, and forced him back into 
the mountains, with a loss of a large amount of baggage and 
stores, and many of his men killed or captured. 

These services have called into action the highest qualities 
of a soldier — fortitude, perseverance, courage. 

By command of General Buell, 

James B. Fry, 
A. A. G., Chief of Staff. 

The War Department made Colonel Garfield a 
Brieadier-General, datino^ his commission from the 
battle of Middle Creek, January loth, 1862. The 
countr)-, without understanding fully the details of 
the campaign, appreciated its tangible results. 
The discomfiture of Marshall was a source of 



206 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Special chagrin to the rebel sympathizers in Ken- 
tucky, and of amusement and admiration through- 
out the loyal West. Garfield at once took rank 
in the public estimation among the most prom- 
ising of the younger volunteer generals. 

In his " Ohio in the War," Whitelaw Reid passes 
this judgment on the campaign : " Later criticism 
will confirm the general verdict then passed 
upon the Sandy Valley campaign. It was the 
first of the brilliant series of successes, that made 
the spring of 1862 so memorable. Mill Springs, 
Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Nashville, Island 
No. 10 and Memphis, followed in quick succession ; 
but it was to Garfield's honor that he had opened 
this season of victories. His plans, as we have 
seen, were based on sound military principles ; the 
energ}' which he threw into their execution was 
thoroughly admirable, and his management of the 
raw volunteers was such that they acquired the 
fullest confidence in their commander and endured 
the hardships of the campaign with fortitude not 
often shown In the first field-service of new troops. 
But the operations were on a small scale, and 
their chief significance lay in the capacity they de- 
veloped, rather than in their intrinsic importance." 



CHAPTER XIV. 



OFF TO AID GRANT. 



C"^ ARFIELD was transferred to a wider field 
^ of operations. His conspicuous ability, 
developed in batde, and his great bravery 
were not restricted to the bounds of the Big Sandy 
district, so effectively freed from the control of the 
rebels. 

When he arrived at Louisville, he found that 
the Army of the Ohio was already beyond Nash- 
ville, on its way to aid Grant at Pittsburgh Land- 
ing. He immediately reported to General Buell 
about thirty miles south of Columbia, and under 
his orders assumed command of the Twentieth 
Brigade, then a part of the division of General 
Thomas J. Wood. General Wood was making all 
possible effort to reach the Union forces under 
Grant, anticipating that the approaching battle 
with Sidney Johnson would be of the greatest im- 
portance. 

The battle began on the morning of April 6th. 
About ten o'clock that day, Grant, hearing that 
Wood, with the second division of Buell's army, 
had arrived at Savannah, Tennessee, sent him the 
followinor order: 

"You will move your command.with the utmost 
O 



207 



208 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



dispatch, to the river at this point (landing), where 
steamers will be in readiness to convey you to 
Pittsburgh." 

Still later in the day another dispatch was sent 
to the commanding officer of Buell's forces, ureinp- 
him to make all haste. 




PITTSBURGH LANDING. 

It IS not necessary to recount here, how 
thoroughly the Union forces were whipped on the 
first day. and how extremely probable it seemed, 
that the defeat would turn into a rout. But here, 
as on many another field later in the bloody con- 



PITTSB UR GH LAXDING. 20Q 

flict, Ohio saved the day. When a halt was called 
on the evening of the 6th, it was determined by 
Grant, that the Ohio troops should form on the 
left in the morning, and the attack be renewed. 
Durine the nicrht of the 6th, Buell busied himself 
in getting his troops up. Nelson's column and 
nearly all of Crittenden's and IMcCook's divisions 
were ferried across the river and put in position. 
All night long the gun-boats dropped shells at 
intervals on the rebel lines ; and the fires in the 
burning wood lighted the battle-field for miles 
away. But for a merciful shower of rain thousands 
of helpless wounded would have been burned to 
death on that blazing batde-field. The orders 
were: 

" As soon as it is light enough to see, attack 
with a heavy skirmish line, and when you have 
found the enemy, throw upon him your whole 
force, leaving no reserve." 

With the first gray of dawn this order was put 
into execution. The Ohio troops were given the 
left, while Grant's army, or such of it as could be 
gathered together, undertook to form and main- 
tain the right. As rapidly as the Ohioans came 
up, they went into acdon, and fought with splendid 
energy. During the early part of the day Grant 
met the First Ohio marching toward the northern 
part of the field, and immediately in front of an 
important position. The regiment on the left after 
a hard fight had given way, when Grant called 
i8 



2 I Q THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

upon the Ohio boys to change direction and 
charge. With a cheer they obeyed ; and the re- 
treating troops, seeing what was going on, took 
new couraee, and with loud shouts drove the 
enemy from their strong position. 

Garfield had all this time been actively engaged 
in every possible exertion to bring up his brigade 
and assist, before either defeat or victory silenced 
the cannonading, which he so distinctly heard. 
About I P. M., he reached the front, and led his 
men through the storm of lead, as they with a wild 
cheer dashed at the rebels. The fresh onslaught 
in which Garfield's brigade participated, changed 
the fortunes of the day; and the rebels were soon 
fiying from the field, on which they had fought so 
long and well. The Union troops were too much 
exhausted to pursue. Haldng in the camp, from 
which they had been driven the day before, they 
were content with the victory. 

On the 9th, the War Department issued the 
following complimentary order: 

"The thanks of the department are hereby given 
to Generals Grant and Buell, and their forces, for 
the glorious repulse of Beauregard, at Pittsburgh, 
in Tennessee." 

The next morning (the 8th) Garfield's brigade, 
forming a part of Sherman's advance, pardci- 
patcd in a sharp encounter with the enemy's rear- 
guard, a few miles beyond the batde-field. The 
brigade joined in the advance upon Corinth, to 



BUILDING BRIDGES. 211 

which Beauregard had retreated. This advance 
was so slow, that it took six weeks to march fif- 
teen miles. It was the 21st of May, before the 
armies were fairly in line, three miles from Corinth, 
and ready for the expected battle. 

But all the preparations for battle were useless. 
When Halleck was ready to engage Beauregard, 
the latter had retreated from Corinth. Garfield's 
brigade had the empty honor of being among the 
first, that entered the abandoned town. 

When General Buell, turning eastward, sought to 
prepare for a new aggressive compaign with his 
inadequate forces, General Garfield was assigned 
the task of rebuilding the bridges of the Memphis 
and Charleston Railroad and re-opening the Road 
eastward from Corinth to Decatur. Crossing the 
Tennessee at the latter place, he advanced to 
Huntsville, where he remained during the rest of 
that campaign, carrying out every instruction with 
absolute fidelity, and always with perfect success. 

One of the constant objects of General Buell, 
while General Garfield was engaged in bridge- 
building (a task, for which his energy and famil- 
iarity with building-work peculiarly fitted him) 
was the enforcement of discipline. Courts-mar- 
tial were frequent. It was not always easy to find 
officers thoroughly fitted for this duty ; but Gar- 
field's legal mind and dispassionate judgment sin- 
gled him out. His first detail was in the case of 
Colonel Turchin, who was charged with neglect 



^ , ^ THE LIFE OE PRESIDENT GAREIELD. 

of duty, to the prejudice of good order and disci- 
l^line, in permitting the wanton and disgraceful 
pillage of the town of Athens, Alabama ; with con- 
duct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman in fail- 
ing to pay a hotel bill in the town ; and with in- 
subordination in disobeying the orders against the 
molestation of peaceful citizens in person and 
property. The court found him guilty (except in 
failing to pay the hotel bill), and sentenced him to 
dismissal from the service. Six of its members 
recommended him to clemency ; but General Buell 
was so determined that the sentence was carried 
out. The newspapers took up the case and cham- 
pioned the colonel. Those of Chicago were espe- 
cially vehement in his defense. On his return to 
Chicago, he was given a public reception ; and the 
President, as if to indorse the deeds of the dis- 
graced colonel, appointed him a brigadier-general. 
The tendency to fever and ague, contracted in 
the days of Garfield's experience on the Ohio 
Canal, was aggravated in the malarious climate of 
the South, and he obtained sick-leave on the ist of 
August. Just before he started for Ohio, the 
Secretary of War, who seems, at that early day, 
to have formed a high estimate of Garfield, ordered 
him to proceed to Cumberland Gap, and relieve 
General George W. Morgan; but he was too ill 
to assume the duty. A month later, the Secretary 
ordered him to report in person at Washington, 
as soon as his health would permit. On his 



SEJi VICES A F PRE CIA TED. 



21 



arrival, it was found, that his knowledge of law, his 
judgment and his loyalty had led to his selection 
as one of the members of the first court-martial for 
the trial of Fitz John Porter. During this trial, his 
intimacy with General Hunter, the president of the 
court, led to his appointment to service in South 
Carolina, whither Hunter was about to start. Gar- 
field's strong anti-slavery views had been greatly 




ARMY HEAD-QUARTERS. 

Strengthened by his previous experience in the 
war, so that this appointment under a commander 
so radical as Hunter was particularly gratifying. 
But in the midst of his preparations the old army, 
in which he had served, plunged Into the battle of 
Stone River. A part of the bitter cost of the vic- 
tory was the loss of Gareche, the lamented chief 
of staff of the commandinof aeneral. Garfield's 
appointment to South Carolina was revoked; and 
1 8=== 



2 I A THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

early in January, 1863, he was ordered to join 
Major-General William S. Rosecrans, then com- 
manding the Army of the Cumberland. 

Rosecrans was already prejudiced against him, 
thinking him a "political preacher." He kept 
him at head-quarters for a couple of days, as he 
desired to make his acquaintance and sound him 
before assigning him to active duty. The more 
he saw of him, the more he liked him ; and finally 
he gave him his choice between Chief of Staff and 
the command of a brigade. Most men would 
have taken the brigade ; but Garfield chose to re- 
main with the general. That Rosecrans never 
regretted appointing him Chief of Staff, is evi- 
denced, by what he has said : 

We were together until the Chattanooga affair. I found 
him to be a competent and efficient officer, an earnest and 
devoted patriot, and a man of the highest honor. His views 
were large, and he was possessed of a thoroughly comprehen- 
sive mind. 

Garfield's appointment as Chief of Staff gave 
great satisfaction throughout the army. The 
country was equally pleased, and especially Ohio. 
The editor of the Xenia Torchlight, a paper pub- 
lished at Garfield's home, thus commented on the 
appointment; 

We have known General James A. Garfield for several 
years, and entertain for him the highest personal regard. He 
IS one of the most eloquent men in Ohio, as well as one of the 



CHIEF OF STAFF. 



215 



ripest scholars. Socially and morally, he has no superior. 
He is popular with all, as the attachment of his scholars, as 
well as his soldiers, for him demonstrates. In respect to 
abilities, nature has by no meajis been unfriendly to him ; 
and he has neither despised nor slighted her gifts. A severe 
course of mental training, combined with the mental practice 
obtained by presiding over one of the colleges of Ohio, has 
fully developed his natural endowments. Above all these 
considerations, every one respects General Garfield for his 
stern, unyielding, uncompromising, patriotism. The perma- 
nent good of his country, the restoration of its unity, and the 
perpetuation of the National power and glory through all 
coming time, are the objects which he keeps steadily in view. 

When installed In his new position, he rapidly 
became a favorite. Possessed of sound, natural 
sense, an excellent judgment, a highly cultivated 
intellect, and the deserved reputation of a success- 
ful military leader, he soon became the mentor of 
his staff. His opinions were sought, and his coun- 
sels heeded, by many, who were older and not 
less distincruished than himself. 

Edmund Kirke, in his picturesque war-story, 
"Down in Tennessee," published in 1864, draws 
the following pen-portrait of Garfield in his new 
capacity : 

" In a corner by the window, seated at a small 
pine-desk — a sort of packing-box, perched on a 
long-legged stool and divided into pigeon-holes, 
with a turn-down lid — was a tall deep-chested, 
sinewy-built man, with regular, massive features, a 
full, clear blue eye, slightly tinged with gray, and 
a high, broad forehead, rising into a ridge over the 



2l6 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



eyes, as if it had been thrown up by a plow. There 
was something singularly engaging in his open 
expressive face, and his whole appearance indi- 
cated, as the phrase goes, ' great reserved power.' 
His uniform, though cleanly brushed and sitting 
easily upon him, had a sort of democratic air, and 
everything about him seemed to denote that he 
was ' a man of the people.' A rusty slouched 
hai, laree enouofh to have fitted Daniel Webster, 
lay on the desk before him ; but a glance at that 
was not needed to convince me that his head held 
more than the common share of brains. Though 
he is yet young — not thirty-two — the reader has 
heard of him, and if he lives he will make his name 
long remembered In our history." 

Garfield was regarded as the only mature mem- 
ber of the staff, Rosecrans having a partiality for 
young and gallant spirits like Captain Charles 
Thompson, Major Bond, Colonel Mickler, Captain 
Hunter Brooke, Major Horace Porter (subse- 
quendy on Grant's staff), and Major Morton Mc- 
Michael. Though he was not much older than 
these officers, he had a mature look always ; and 
his mood was serious, as if there was in the peril 
of the nation something more of personal concern 
and interest to him tlmn to mos-t of his associates. 

While acting in this capacity, Garfield had a 
conversation with Clement L. Vallandigham, who, 
banished for his treasonable sentiments, was 
brought to Murfreesboro', Tenn., to be sent by flag 



APT.XESS AT DUTY. 



21 7 



of truce into the rebel lines, a few miles distant, 
at Tullahoma, He was taken, in the usual course 
of business, to Rosecrans' head-quarters. 

He entered at an early hour of the morning, 
with an affectation of unconcern and light-hearted- 
ness, threw himself into a tragic attitude, and in a 
mock-heroic vein exclaimed, quoting from "Romeo 
and Juliet:" 

''Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day 
Stands tiptoe on tlie misty mountain tops." 

Here he hesitated, when Garfield quickly but 
quietly finished the quotation by adding, in a half 
aside, to the aid-de-camp in charge of the flag of 
truce escort, which was waiting to convey Vallan- 
digham to the rebel lines: 

" I must begone and live, or stay and die." 

Vallandigham however overheard, and caught 
the hidden meaning of the citation, blushing scar- 
let, as he made its application. 



CHAPTER XV. 



GARFIELD AS CHIEF OF STAFF. 



A chief of staff should bear the same reU- 
tion to his general, as a minister of state 
to his sovereign. What this relation is, 
that brilliant historian, Kinglake, tells us In his 
" Crimean War:" 

"The difference between a servant and a min- 
ister of state lies in this, that the servant obeys the 
orders given him, without troubling himself con- 
cerning the question whether his master is right 
or wrong, while a minister of state declines to be 
the instrument for eivlng- effect to the measures 
which he deems hurtful to his country. The chan- 
cellor of the Russian Empire was sagacious and 
politic. That the czar was wrong in these trans- 
actions against Turkey, no nian knew better. But, 
unhappily for the czar and for his empire, the min- 
ister did not enjoy so commanding a station as to 
be able to put restraint upon his sovereign, nor 
even, perhaps, to offer him counsel in his angry 
mood." 

In some respects General Garfield as Chief of 
Staff went through a similar experience. From 
the day of his appointment, he became the inti- 
mate associate and confidential adviser of his 
chief; but he did not occupy so commanding a 

(218) 



x\E IV DIFFICUL TIES. 2 1 Q 

Station as to put restraint upon him. General 
Garfield's arrival marks the beginning of that 
period of quarrels with the War Department, in 
which General Rosecrans frittered away his influ- 
enceand paved the way for his removal. Thatgreat 
strategist and gallant soldier was always unwise 
in caring for his own interests, and generally very 
imprudent in his intercourse with his superiors. 
Yet he was nearly always right in his demands, 
especially when he made appeals to the War De- 
partment for more cavalry and revolving arms. 
In these requests Garfield was heart and soul with 
his superior. At the same time, he did all in his 
power to soften the tone of asperity, which his 
chief adopted in his dispatches to Washington. 
Sometimes he took the responsibility of totally 
suppressing an angry message. Oftener he ven- 
tured to soften the phraseology. But there was 
a limit, beyond which he could not go ; and when 
Rosecrans had pronounced certain statements of 
the department, " a profound, grievous, cruel and 
ungenerous official and personal wrong," the good 
offices of the Chief of Staff were no longer 
efficacious ; the breacli was irreparable. Thence- 
forward he could only strive to make victories in 
the field atone for errors in council. 

He regarded the organization of the army as 
vitally defective. Almost the first recommenda- 
tion, made by General Garfield, was in regard to 
the displacement of A. M. McCook and T. L. 



220 ^-^^ ^^^^ ^^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD 

Crittenden, This recommendation was made in 
the course of a discussion of the battle of Stone 
River, in which, Rosecrans expHcitly said, these 
officers had shown themselves incompetent. Gar- 
field, with his clear-headed judgment, utterly 
unmoved by popular prejudice, and thoroughly 
well able to perceive real ability beneath mis- 
fortune, recommended, that McCook and Critten- 
den be replaced by Irvin McDowell and Don 
Carlos Buell. Garfield did not take the ground, 
that Buell and McDowell had proved themselves 
equal to the high commands, which they had 
already held. Without discussing this point, he 
argued at length their masterly qualifications for 
important subordinate positions, as well as the fact, 
that this offer of an opportunity of coming out 
from the cloud, under which they rested, would in- 
sure their gratitude and incite them to their very 
best efforts. With George H. Thomas already in 
command, with men like these as his associates, 
and with the energy' and genius of Rosecrans to 
lead, the Army of the Cumberland would have 
been the best officered army in the service of the 
nation. But "Rosecrans was unwilling to adopt 
the suggestion for a reason, creditable to his kind- 
ness of heart, but not to his militar>^ character. 
Crittenden and McCook ought to be removed. 
Of that he had no doubt; but 'he hated to Injure 
two such good fellows;' and the 'two good fellows ' 
remained with him until Chickamauga." 



URGING AN ADVANCE. 



221 



From January 4th to June 24th, Rosecrans lay 
at Murfreesboro'. Through five months of this 
delay Garfield was with him. The War Depart- 
ment demanded an advance, and, when the spring 
opened; with unusual vehemence. General Rose- 
crans delayed, waidng for cavalry, for reinforce- 
ments, for Grant's movements before Vicksburg, 




GEN. GEORGE H. THOMAS. 

for the movements of the enemy, for the opinions 
of the generals. The Chief of Staff approved the 
delays, dll the army should be strengthened and 
massed ; but long before the delaying officers 
were ready, he was urging movement with all his 
power. In a private letter, dated June i 2th, 1863, 
he ureed an advance. He wrote : 

" Bragg's army is weaker than it has been since 
19 



222 '^'^^^ ^^^^ ^^ rRESlDENT GARFIELD 

the previous battles. If Grant succeeds at Vlcks- 
burcr, it will take weeks to recover from the shock 
and strain. ''' '•' ''' The turbulent aspect of 
polidcs in the loyal States renders a decisive blow 
against the enemy at this time of the utmost im- 
portance. '^ ''^ '•' The country is anxiously 
hoping for the army to move. '^' '•' '^' Our true 
objective is the rebel army. Our army is supe- 
rior in efficiency and morale. '•■' '^' ''' For these 
reasons I believe an immediate advance of all our 
available forces is advisable, and under the provi- 
dence of God will be successful." 

This information he procured through a secret- 
service system, which he had established, and 
which was perhaps more perfect than in any other 
of the Union armies. As he subsequently said, 
he refused to believe that this army, which had de- 
feated a superior at Stone River, could not now 
move upon an inferior with reasonable prospect of 
success. 

The Army of the Cumberland agreed with Gar- 
field, who was a great favorite with the officers 
and men. His ringing letter on the atrocities of 
rebel prison-pens, written a few months previous, 
had added gready to his popularity. The closing 
sentence of this letter reads : 

" We cannot believe that the jusdce of God will 
allow such a people to prosper. Let every soldier 
know that death on the batde-field is preferable 
to a surrender followed by such outrages as their 
comrades have undergone." 



ONE TO SEVENTEEN. 223 

Finally, General Rosecrans formally asked his 
corps, division and cavalry generals about the pro- 
priety of advancing. With singular unanimity, 
though for divers reasons, they opposed it over 
their signatures. Out of seventen generals not 
one was in favor of an advance ; and not one was 
willing to put himself upon record as favoring an 
early advance. 

General Garfield collated these seventeen let- 
ters, and fairly refuted their statements, adding a 
cogent argument against them and in favor of an 
immediate movement. This report, says an ex- 
cellent authority, is " the ablest military document 
known to have been submitted by a chief of staff 
to his superior during the war. General Garfield 
stood absolutely alone, every general commanding 
troops having, as we have seen, either openly op- 
posed or failed to approve an advance. But his 
statements were so clear, and his aro-uments so 
convincing, that he carried conviction. The con- 
siderations which led to his conclusions, he thus 
stated : 

1. Bragg's army is now weaker than it has been since the 
battle of Stone River, or is likely to be again for the present, 
while our army has reached its maximum strength, and we 
have no right to expect re-enforcements for several months, 
if at all. 

2. Whatever be the result at Vicksburg, the determination 
of its fate will give large re-enforcements to Bragg. If Grant 
is successful, his army will require many weeks to recover from 
the shock and strain of his late campaign, while Johnson will 
send back to Bragg a force sufficient to insure the safety of 

a 



^ - THE LIFE OF FRESWENT GARFIELD. 

Tennessee, If Grant fails, the same result will inevitably 
follow, so far as Bragg's army is concerned. 

3. No man can predict with certainty the result of any 
battle, however great the disparity in numbers. Such results 
are in the hands of God. But, viewing the question in the 
light of human calculation, I refuse to entertain a doubt that 
this army, which in January last defeated Bragg's superior 
numbers, can overwhelm his present greatly inferior forces. 

4. The most unfavorable course for us that Bragg could take, 
would be to fall back without giving us battle ;»but this Avould 
be very disastrous to him. Besides the loss of tnateriel oi 
war, and the abandonment of the rich and abundant harvest 
now nearly ripe in Middle Tennessee, he would lose heavily 
by desertion. It is well known that a wide-spread dissatis- 
faction exists among his Kentucky and Tennessee troops. 
They are already deserting in large numbers. A retreat would 
greatly increase both the desire and the opportunity for 
desertion, and would very materially reduce his physical and 
moral strength. While it would lengthen our communica- 
tions, it would give us possession of McMinnville, and enable 
us to threaten Chattanooga and East Tennesee ; and it would 
not be unreasonable to expect an early occupation of the 
former place. 

5. But the chances are more than even that a sudden and 
rapid movement would compel a general engagement, and the 
defeat of Bragg would be in the highest degree disastrous to 
the rebellion. 

6. The turbulent aspect of politics in the loyal States 
renders a decisive blow against the enemy at this time of the 
highest importance to the success of the Government at the 
polls and in the enforcement of the Conscription act. 

7. The Government and the War Department believe that 
this army ought to move upon the enemy. The army desires 
it, and the country is anxiously hoping for it. 

f>. Our true objective point is the rebel army, whose last 
reserves are substantially in the field ; and an effective blow 



THE TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN. 



225 



will crush the shell, and soon be followed by the collapse of 
the rebel government. 

9. You have, in my judgment, wisely delayed a general 
movement hitherto, till your army could be massed and your 
cavalry could be mounted. Your mobile force can now be 
concentrated in twenty-four hours, and your cavalry, if not 
equal in numerical strength to that of the enemy, is greatly 
superior in efficiency. For these reasons, I believe an im- 
mediate advance of all our available force is advisable, and, 

under the providence of God, will be successful." 

* 

Twelve days after this report was made, the 
army moved, to the great dissatisfaction of its 
leading generals. One of the three corps-com- 
manders, Major-General Thomas L. Crittenden, 
approached the Chief of Staff at the head-quarters 
the morning of the advance, and said : " It is un- 
derstood, sir, by the general officers of the army, 
that this movement is your work. I wish you to 
understand, that it is a rash and fatal move, for 
which you will be held responsible." 

This " rash and fatal move " was the Tullahoma 
campaign, which was perfect in its conception, ex- 
cellent in its general execution, and only pre- 
vented from resulting In the complete destruction 
of the opposing army by the delays, which had 
too long postponed Its commencement. It might 
even then have destroyed Bragg, but for the terrible 
rains, which set in on the morning of the advance, 
and continued uninterruptedly for the greater part 
of a month. With a week's earlier start It would 
have ended the career of Bragg's army. 
19* 



2 26 ^-^^-^ ^^^^ ^^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Let us turn for a moment from the direct stor>» 
of the conflict to a personal word about our hero. 
One of the most prohfic war-writers, J. R. Gil- 
more, who spent a month with Rosecrans, gives 
some interesting pictures of Garfield in the Spring 
and Summer of 1863. "We rode one day to 
Sheridan's head-quarters," says Gilmore ; " and, 
as we entered the forest encircling the town, Gar- 
field broke out with Lovell's poem : 

' I du believe in Freedom's cause,' 

and if the ' Down East poet ' would have any ap- 
preciation of his own lines, he should hear them in 
such grand, old woods, the words echoed back 
from the great spreading trees and set to the 
music of an hundred horses' heels. He had 
scarcely ended, when Rosecrans began to tell how 

" ' Zekle crep' up, quite unbeknown, 
An' peeped in thru the winder; 
While there sot Huldy all alone 
'Ith no one nigh to hinder.' 

" ' What would you give to have written that ?' 
Rosecrans said, as he finished the recitation. 

" ' All the casdes I ever built in the clouds,' was 
the reply. 

" ' So would I. You know what Wolfe said be- 
fore his great battle?' 

"'That he would rather have written Gray's 
Elegy than take Quebec. Would you have said 
that before Stone River ?' 

" He hesitated a moment, and then answered : 



AN APPREHENDED INSURRECTION. 



227 



" ' No, for now v/e need victories more than 
poems.' " 

Another anecdote well illustrates the instant 
correctness of Garfield's reasoning on subjects of 
the most vital and serious importance, and his 
keen penetration into events yet to come. 

Toward the close of May, 1863, Rosecrans re- 
ceived a letter, in which the scheme for a general 
uprising and arming of the blacks, followed by at- 
tacks on the whites in all the slave States, on the 
I St ofthe following August, was outlined. The sup- 
port of Rosecrans was asked for in his department ; 
and he was told, that a similar plan had been sent to 
the Union commander in each department. Rose- 
crans deliberated over the communication, and 
asked a by-stander his opinion. 

" It would end the rebellion. Co-operating with 
our forces, it would certainly succeed ; but the 
South would run with blood." 

" Innocent blood ? Women and Children ? " 

" Yes ; women and children. If you let the 
blacks loose, they will rush into carnage like 
horses into a burnino- barn. St. DominQ^o will be 
multiplied by a million." 

But the letter says, that no blood is to be shed 
except in self-defense." 

" It says so ; and the leaders may mean so, but 
they cannot restrain the rabble. Every slave has 
some real or fancied wrong, and he would take such 



a time to aveno-e it. 

O 



oog ^-^^^ L^^^ OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

" I am puzzied. I must go and talk with Gar- 
field. Come, go with me." 

They crossed the street to Garfield's lodgings 
and found him bolstered up in bed, quite sick with 
a fever. Rosecrans sat down at the foot of the bed 
and handed him the letter. Garfield read it over 
carefully, and, laying it down, said : 

" It will never do, General. We don't want to 
whip by such means. If the slaves of their own 
accord rise and assert their original risfht to them- 
selves, that will be their own affair ; but we can 
have no complicity with them without outraging 
the moral sense of the civilized world." 

" I knew you would say so ; but the writer 
speaks of other department-commanders. May 
they not come into it? " 

" Yes, they may, and that should be looked to. 

Send this letter to and let him head off the 

movement." 

The insurrection, as every one knows, did not 
take place, although some unimportant outbreaks 
occurred in Georgia and Alabama in the following 
.September. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. 



A 



DDITIONAL differences arose between 
Rosecrans and the War Department. In 
the general pohcy, that controlled the 
movements of the army, Garfield heartily sympa- 
thised. He had, in fact, given shape to that 
policy. But he deplored his chief's testy manner 
of defending himself from the complaints of the 
War Department, and did his best to soften the 
asperities of the correspondence. 

The summer was almost gone ; and the com- 
ing autumn was ripe with promises of immediate 
results. The air was full of rumors of approach- 
ing conflicts; and the North waited the echo from 
the battle-field. 

August 5th, General Halleck telegraphed Rose- 
crans peremptory orders to move. Rosecrans 
quietly waited, till the dispositions along his ex- 
tended lines were completed, and till stores were 
accumulated and the corn was ripened, so that 
his horses could be made to live off the country. 
On the 15th he was ready. 

The problem now before him was to cross the 
Tennessee River, and gain possession of Chatta- 
nooga ( the key to the entire mountain-ranges of 

(229) 



2;o 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



East Tennessee and Northern Georgia) In the 
face of an enemy of equal strength. Two courses 
were open. Forcing a passage over the river 
above Chattanooga, he might essay a direct at- 
tack upon the town. If not repulsed in the dan- 
gerous preliminary movements, he would still have 
upon his hands a siege, not less formidable than 
that of Vicksburg, with difficulties incomparably 




REDOUBT ON LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, OPPOSITE CHATTANOOGA. 

greater in maintaining his supplies. Or he might 
convince the enemy, that he had adopted this plan ; 
but crossinq; below, he miofht hasten Southward 
over the most rugged roads, and seize the mountain- 
gaps, whence he could debouch upon the enemy's 
line of supplies. More briefly, he might either 
attempt to drive the enemy out of Chattanooga, 
or outflank him. He chose the latter alternative. 
By the 28th the singular activity of the National 
forces along a front of one hundred and fifty miles 



OPERATIONS AT CHATTANOOGA. 



231 



had blinded and bewildered Bragg- as to his an- 
tagonist's actual Intentions. Four brigades sud- 
denly began demonstrating furiously against the 
enemy's lines above Chattanooga; and the plan 
was supposed to be revealed, Rosecrans must 
be attempting to force a passage there; and 
straightway a concentration to oppose him was 
ordered. Meanwhile, bridges, secretly prepared, 
were hastily built thirty miles furdier down the 
river at different points ; and before Bragg had 
prepared to resist a crossing above, Rosecrans, 
handling with rare skill his various corps and 
divisions, had securely planted his army soudi of 
the Tennessee; and, cutting completely loose from 
his base of supplies, was already pushing south- 
ward, admirably protecting his flank next the 
enemy by the Impassable mountains. 

For Bra<jQf but one thinof was at all feasible. 
As he had been forced out of Shelbyvllle, War- 
trace, and Tullahoma, so he was obliged to abandon 
a still stronger position. In all haste he evacuated 
Chattanooga, allowing the nearest corps of Rose- 
crans' army to take possession of It quietly. The 
very ease of this occupation proved Its strongest 
element of danger; for men, seeing the objective 
point in the campaign in their hands, forgot the 
columns toiling through the mountains away to the 
southward, whose mere presence there compelled 
the rebel evacuation. But for them, the Isolated 
troops at Chattanooga would have been over- 



2 -,o THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

whelmed. Thenceforward there was need of still 
greater generalship to reunite the scattered corps. 
They could not return by the way they had come ; 
for, if they began such a movement, Bragg, hold- 
ing a shorter line, and already re-inforced by 
Longstreet's veteran corps of the Army of North- 
ern Virginia, could sweep back over the route of 
his late retreat. Plainly, they must pass through 
tlie gaps, and place themselves between Bragg" 
and Chattanooga, before the stronghold, a mere 
tentative possession, could be securely held. It 
therefore happened, that the bloody battle of 
Chickamauora was fousfht, to enable the Federal 
army to concentrate one of its corps in the position, 
which had already been occupied for days without 
firing a shot, and with hardly the sight of an 
armed foe. 

Unfortunately, the concentration was not speedy 
enough. Indeed, there are some plausible reasons 
lor believing that Rosecrans, after his easy suc- 
cess, was, perhaps for a few days, deceived by the 
belief, that Bragg was still in full retreat. Cer- 
tainly the General-in-chlef and the War Depart- 
ment did all they could to encourage such an idea, 
l.ven after Rosecrans, straining every nerve to 
concentrate his corps, was striving to prepare for 
the onset of the re-inforced rebel army, General 
Halleck informed him of reports, that Bragg's 
army was re-inforcing Lee; and pleasantly added, 
that, alter he had occupied Dalton, it would be 



BATTLE OF CIIICKAJMAUGA. 



235 



decided whether* he should move still further 
southward ! 

By this time, Bragg had assembled all availabie 
re-inforcements, Longstreet from the east, Btick- 
ner from Knoxville, Walker from the army of Jo- 
seph E. Johnston, and militia from Georgia. 
Waiting near Lafayette, he hoped to receive the 
isolated corps of Rosecrans' army, as they de- 
bouched from the gaps, and annihilate them in de- 
tail. For a day or two it seemed as if he would 
be successful. In one way or another, however, 
he failed. Rosecrans gathered together his 
army, repelling whatever assaults hindered the 
concentration, yielding part of the line of the 
Chickamauga, and marching one of his corps dur- 
ing the entire night of the battle. On September 
19th, Bragg made an onset with not less than 
seventy-five thousand men, although Rosecrans 
claimed for him ninety-two thousand. Rosecrans 
had fifty-five thousand. Of the battle, Whitelaw 
Reid gives the following graphic and trustworthy 
account: 

" Bragg's plan was to turn his antagonist's left 
and thus clear the way for Chattanooga, but most 
unfortunately for Bragg, the left was held by Geo. 
H, Thomas, and shortly after the attack began, 
Rosecrans, divining the danger, strengthened 
Thomas' corps with one or two divisions. Disas- 
ter overtook us at first, artillery was lost and 
ground yielded, but Thomas reformed and ad- 



236 



7 HE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



vanced his lines, regained all that had been lost, 
sustained every shock of the enemy, and at night 
held his position firmly. 

"Meanwhile the contest on other parts of our 
line had been less severe, and had ended decidedly 
to our advantage. But it was seen that we were 
outnumbered, and as they came to think how every 
brigade in the whole army, two only excepted, had 
been drawn into the fiQfht, the soldiers beean to 
realize the dispiriting nature of the situation. 

"Through the night, the last of Longstreet's 
corps came up, led by himself and Bragg, pre- 
pared for a vigorous onset on the National left. 
Rosecrans transferred another division ( Negley's ) 
to Thomas, and placed two more in reserve to be 
hurried to Thomas' aid if needed, At daybreak, 
he galloped along the front to find McCook's line 
ill-formed, and also to learn that Negley had not 
yet been forwarded to Thomas. The errors were 
corrected as well as possible; but long before 
Thomas' needed reinforcements had come, the 
batde was raging on his front and flank. Pro- 
foundly conscious of the danger, Rosecrans sought 
to render still further aid, and ordered over Van 
Cleve's division from the right, directing the sev- 
eral division-commanders and the corps-general 
to close up the line on the left. In the heat of the 
batde, which by this time was broken out along 
the right also, one of these division-commanders 
-—\. J. Wood of Kentucky — misunderstood his 



DISASTER A T CHICKAMA UGA. o -i t 

orders, and though he has subsequently stated 
that he knew the consequences of his action must 
be fatal, he chose to consider himself bound by 
the order to break the line of battle and march to 
the rear of another division. Longstreet per- 
ceived the gap and hurled Hood into it. The 
battle on the rio-ht was lost. The whole winof 
crumbled; the enemy poured forward and all that 
was left of McCook's corps, a broken rabble, 
streamed back to Chattanooga. 

" General Rosecrans, himself, was caught in this 
rout and borne along, vainly striving to stem its 
tide. Finally conceiving that if the wing least 
pressed was thus destroyed, Thomas, upon whom 
ke knew the main efforts of the enemy were con- 
centrated, could not hold out beyond nightfall 
he hastened to Chattanooga to make disposition 
for the retreat and defense which he already re- 
garded as inevitable. Meanwhile, his chief of 
staff. General Garfield, was sent to Thomas, to 
convey to him information of what had happened 
and of the plans for the future." 

As Chief of Staff, Garfield was obliged to re- 
main with General Rosecrans. It happened, that 
the latter had established his head-quarters for the 
day in the rear of the right wing and centre, leav- 
ing to General Thomas, the duty of directing the 
fortunes of the left wing. McCook and Critten- 
den, it will be remembered, were commanders of 
the other two corps. Shortly after the fog, which 
20* 



2.^.8 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



durmcr most of the morning had enveloped the 
field and made manoeuvering almost Impossibe, had 
lifted, the rebels under Longstreet, who had come 
from Lee's army to take part in the great contest, 
made a grand assault on the right and centre. 
They were just in time to take advantage of 
Wood's fatal mistake, which left a gap in the Union 
line. The rebels penetrated far to the rear of 
the Federal line at this point, and turning, drove 
back the right of Thomas' forces and the left of 
the other two corps. These were eventually routed 
and driven across the ridofe of hills to roads lead- 
ing to Chattanooga, toward which they retreated 
in dreadful disorder and panic. In the tumult of 
the defeat of the centre and right, McCook, Crit- 
tenden and Rosecrans, with their staff-officers, 
driven beyond the ridcre named, started for Chat- 
tanooga, not knowing whether Thomas had been 
annihilated or had escaped. 

Garfield followed his commander about half 
way to Chattanooga. Riding up to Rosecrans, he 
said: "General, I ask permission to return and 
join General Thomas." Some slight remon- 
strance was made; but Garfield persevered in his 
desire, and obtained permission. Captain Wil- 
liam B. Gaw of the engineers, offered to act as 
jTiide, knowing the country thoroughly, and shar- 
ing the general wish to be where there was dan- 
ger. Accompanied by Gaw and his orderly. Gar- 
held set out on his famous ride. Striking through 




CHATTANOOGA BATTLE-FIELD AND APPROACHES. 



HIS FAMOUS RIDE. 



241 



the Rossville Gap, in the mountain range, he rap- 
idly pushed southward in search of General 
Thomas, the firing of whose guns, indicating that 
the Union troops were by no means in retreat, 
could be plainly heard. The sounds, borne on the 
peaceful breeze, were as fire to the heels of Gar- 
field's horse. With the true soldier's spirit he 
strained every nerve to reach the scene of action, 
following Napoleon's advice to his generals: 
"March in the direction of the heaviest firing." 

When he made this attempt, the road, by which 
he expected to reach General Thomas, was cov- 
ered by sharp-shooters and the advance-guard of 
the rebels, who were pushing forward to secure 
possession of the road, and thereby cut off Tho- 
mas' line of retreat. Garfield did not know of 
their presence until he was admonished of it by 
the pattering of their too lively bullets. Garfield's 
horse and that of his guide. Captain Gaw, were 
shot at the first discharge; and Garfield's orderly 
was wounded, though not seriously. They wefe 
compelled to abandon the road, and take to the 
fields and the mountain-side, where Gaw's famili- 
arity with the topography of the country came into 
play. Trusting himself implicitly to Gaw, Gar- 
field was, after repeatedly avoiding danger, 
brought in safety to General Thomas' side. 

"The Rock of Chickamauga" was reached just 
after the repulse of the enemy in a formidable as- 
sault all along his line, which the rebels had en- 



2^2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

veloped on both flanks. Garfield found Thomas 
and his staff, General Gordon Granger, General 
J. B.Steedman, General Wood and others, grouped 
in a hollow of the open field, a depression just 
sufficient to protect them from direct fire. 

Garfield at once eave Thomas a brief account of 
the disaster to the right and centre. The latter, 
in return, stated his own intention and situation. 
The conversation, however, was cut short by a 
fresh rebel assault It was made in great force 
and with great desperation, the rebels evidently 
foreseeing, that, if repulsed, they could not get 
their troops in position for another assault before 
darkness came to the aid of the enemy. The fire 
lasted furiously for half an hour, when the rebels 
again broke and abandoned the assault. During 
this desperate melcc, Garfield quietly sat on the 
ground behind a dead tree, and coolly indited a 
dispatch to General Rosecrans, detailing the situa- 
tion. A white dove, after hovering around and 
above him for several minutes, finally setded on 
the topmost perch of the tree above his head. 
Here it remained durinor the heat of the figfht ; 
and when the musketry ceased, it flew away to 
the north. The attention of Garfield and General 
Wood was called to the bird. Garfield said 
nothing, but went on wridng. Wood remarked : 
"Good omen of peace." Garfield finished his 
dispatch, sending it by an ofificer, and remained on 
the field with General Thhmas, until the retreat to 



THE LAST SHOTS. 2 AX 

Chattanooga was effected the same night. At 
seven o'clock that eveningf a shotted salute of 
six Napoleon guns was fired into the woods, at 
the last of the retreating assailants, under the per- 
sonal supervison of General Gordon Granger and 
General Garfield — the last shots in the battle 
of Chickamauga. What was left of the Union 
army was master of the field. For the time the 




MISSION RIDGE. 

enemy evidently regarded himself as repulsed ; 
and Garfield said that night, and ever afterwards 
maintained, that there was no necessity for an 
immediate retreat on Rossville. 

This was Garfield's last important military 
service. He wrote every order that day but one 
— the fatal one to General Wood, which, displac- 
ing his brigade, allowed Hood to break through 
and turn the Union flank. That Rosecrans him- 
self wrote. But after Wood had been moved, and 



THE IIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 
244 

Davis had been shattered and beaten back, and 
the whole right wing, mad with panic, surged back 
throLK^-h the gaps, Garfield came upon the field, 
showing clearly, that communication could be 
established between the reserve and Thomas,who 
still stood as steadfast as the spur of Mission 
Ridge, that loomed behind him. Through Gar- 
field's energy the reserves were pushed to the left 
of Thomas, enabling him to hold Polk and Long- 
street at bay during that long, sad afternoon of 
shock and repulse. It should never be forgotten, 
to Garfield's praise, that it was on his own earnest 
representations, that he procured permission — 
by half refusing further retreat — to go to Thomas, 
and back into batde. He refused to believe, that 
Thomas was routed or the battle lost. 

General Wood, in his official report of Chicka- 
mauga, said of General Garfield's action on that 
day of disaster: 

"It affords me much pleasure to signalize the 
presence with my command, for a length of time 
during the afternoon (present during the period of 
hottest fighting), of another distinguished officen 
Ilrlgadler-General James A. Garfield, chief of the 
staff. After the disastrous rouL on the right. 
General Garfield made his way back to the battle- 
field (showing clearly that the road was open to 
all who might choose to follow It), and came to 
wlicre my command was eneaeed. The briofade 
which made so determined a resistance on the 



JUST PRAISE. 



245 



crest of the narrow ridge during all the long Sep- 
tember afternoon, had been commanded by Gen- 
eral Garfield when he belonged to my division: 
The men remarked his presence with much satis- 
faction, and were delighted that he was a witness 
of the splendid fighting they were doing." 

Rosecrans, in his official report, added his 
measure of praise: 




THE BATTLE-FIELD AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY 

" To Brigadier-General James A. Garfield, chief 
of staff, I am especially indebted for the clear and 
ready manner in which he seized the points of ac- 
tion and movement, and expressed in orders the 
ideas of the general commanding." 

On an afternoon not long afterward, when the 
army was then at Chattanooga, Garfield ap- 
proached Rosecrans, and said to him: "General, 
I have been asked to accept the Republican nom- 
ination for Congress from the Ashtabula district 
21 



46 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



What ought I to do? What is your advice? 
Ought I to accept? Can I do so honorably?" 

" I am glad, for your sake," returned Rosecrans, 
" that you have a new distinction, and I certainly 
think you can accept with honor; and, what is 
more. I deem it your duty to do so. The war is 
not over yet, nor will it be for some time to come. 
There will be, of necessity, many questions arising 
in Congress, which will require not alone states- 
manlike treatment, but the advice of men having 
an acquaintance with military affairs. For this 
and other reasons, I believe you will be able to 
do equally good service to your country in Con- 
gress as in the field. Now, let me give you a 
piece of advice. When you go to Congress, be 
careful what you say. Don't talk too much, but 
when )'ou do talk, speak to the point. Be true to 
yourself, and you will make your mark before the 
country." 

After a week or two of further service, he was 
sent to Washington, as bearer of dispatches. He 
there learned of his promotion to a major-general- 
ship of volunteers " for gallant and meritorious 
conduct at the battle of Chickamauga." He might 
have retained this position in the army. The 
militar)- capacity, which he had displayed, the high 
favor in which he was held by the government, 
and the certainty of assignment to important com- 
mands seemed to augur a brilliant future. He was 
a poor man, too; and a major-general's salary was 



RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION. 247 

more than double that of a congressman. But, 
on mature reflection, he decided, that the circum- 
stances, under which the people had elected him 
to Congress, bound him to obey their wishes. He 
was furthermore urged to enter Congress by the 
officers of the army, who looked to him for aid in 
procuring such military legislation, as the country 
and the army required. Under the belief, that his 
path of usefulness to the country lay in the direc- 
tion, in which his constituents pointed, he sacri- 
ficed what seemed to be his personal interests, and 
on the 5th of December, 1S63, resigned his com- 
mission after nearly three years of service. 

He left the Army of the Cumberland, followed 
by the regrets and good wishes of every man in 
it, for all were his friends ; and he laid down his 
unstained sword to enter an arena, where he won 
a prouder fame. 

A distinguished military critic thus sums up his 
soldierly achievements : 

" He proved himself a good Independent com- 
mander in the small, but important operations in 
the Sandy Valley. His campaign there opened 
our series of successes in the West, and, though 
fought against superior forces, began with us the 
habit of victory. After that he was only a subor- 
dinate. But he always enjoyed the confidence of 
his immediate superiors and of the department. 
As chief of staff, he was unrivalled. There, as 
elsewhere he was ready to accept the gravest re- 



248 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



sponsibillties in following his convictions. The 
bent of his mind was aggressive ; his judgment In 
military matters was always good ; his papers on 
the Tullahoma campaign will stand a monument 
of his courage and his far-reaching soldierly saga- 
city ; and his conduct at Chickamauga will never | 
be forsfotten bv a nation of brave men." 

In following Garfield's career upon the battle- 
field, we have steadily pursued the direct thread f 
of the story, rather than turned aside to garner 
here and there a flower of incident, or to gather 
a blossom growing beside the smoking mouth of 
the cannon. Many such were scattered along the 
path, which he trod with such earnest feet. We 
may, therefore, with entire relevance and appre- 
ciable purpose, devote a page to certain Incidents of 
the conflict, with which he was directly connected. 

No man had a keener sense of justice than 
Garfield. One day a fugitive slave came rushing 
Into the camp, with a bloody head and apparently 
frightened almost to death, "He had only passed 
my tent," says a staff-officer of General Sherman, 
"when, In a moment, a regular bully of a fellow 
came riding up, and with a volley of oaths, began 
to ask after his 'nigger.'" General Garfield was i 
not present; and the "bully" passed on to the I 
division-commander who happened to be a sympa- 
thizer with the theory, that fugitives should be re- 
turned to their masters, and that the Union sol- 
diers should be made instruments for returnine 



PROTECTING FUGITIVE SLAVES. 34.0 

them. He accordingly wrote a mandatory order 
to General Garfield, in whose command the darkey 
was supposed to be hiding, directing him to hunt 
up, and deliver, the property of the outraged citi- 
zen. The staff-ofiicer, who brought the order, sta- 
ted the case fully to General Garfield before hand- 
ing him the order, well knowing the general's 
strong anti-slavery^ views. He took the order and, 
after reading it carefully, deliberately made the 
followinof indorsement : 

" I respectfully but positively decline to allow 
my command to search for, or deliver up, any 
fugitive slaves, I conceive that they are here for 
quite another purpose. The command is open ; 
and no obstacle will be placed in the way of the 
search." 

When the staff-officer read the indorsement, he 
was frightened, and remonstrated against Gar- 
field's determination. He said, that, if Garfield 
returned the order in that shape to the division- 
commander, he would certainly be arrested and 
court-martialed. To this the Ohio general simply 
replied: 

"The matter may as well be tested first as last. 
Right is right, and I do not propose to mince 
matters at all. My soldiers are here for far other 
purposes than hunting and returning fugitive 
slaves." 

The staff-officer carried to the division-com- 
mander the order with Garfield's indorsement. 

2V^ 



r, ro THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

The division-commander, highly incensed, at once 
sent for Garfield, and attempted to "bull-doze" 
him into abandoning his position. The Ohio 
abolitionist, however, maintained his ground; and 
in return the division-commander was obliged to 
listen to a lecture, which made him think possibly 
that he was in the wrong. At all events, no court- 
martial was convened to try the general, who had 
so flagrantly refused to obey orders; and there- 
after the division-commander refrained from issu- 
ing orders on the subject of slavery. 

General Gareche, Rosecrans' Chief of Staff be- 
fore Garfield, was killed on the first day of the 
fight at Murfreesboro'. A solid shot took off his 
head. "Old Rosey," as he was familiarly called, 
who was at Gareche's side, when the fatal shot 
struck him, glanced at the headless body of his 
faithiul officer, and exclaimed: "Poor fellow! poor 
fellow!" Then he called out: "Scatter, gentle- 
men, scatter!" The order was obeyed by staff 
and orderlies with more than alacrity, as the staff 
were in blank-range of a well-manned battery, and 
the shot were flying thick and fast. "A few day's 
after," says Thomas Dougherty, "I do not remem- 
ber how many, when we had got Into quarters at 
Murfreesboro', General Garfield joined us to take 
the dead man's place as chief of staff. The boys 
were delighted and thought him a perfect success. 
As an illustration of his kindness of heart, a virtue 
not practised often by army officers in the field, 



A KIND OFFICER. 2 CI 

they delighted to relate the following story, as told 
by a sergeant in Rosecrans' army: 

"One night, very late, the boys were rolled in 
their blankets on the hall floor asleep, and I was 
at my post, sitting on a chair at the door of the tent 
of the general commanding, awaiting orders to be 
taken to their destination by the then sleeping men. 
The light was but a tallow candle, stuck in a sar- 
dine-box. I, with chair tilted against the wall, had 
fallen asleep, when General Garfield, the new 
chief of staff, emerged from the head-quarters' 
room with quick step, N^ot noticing my extended 
limbs, he tripped over them and dropped on his 
hands and knees on the floor. He was no light 
weight, and even then the fall was not easy. Af- 
frighted, I started from my sleep, sprang to my 
feet, and, as the general arose, saluted. I ex- 
pected nothing else than to be cursed, and proba- 
bly kicked and cuffed, too, from one end of the 
hall to the other. To my astonishment, the tall 
general said, kindly and quietly: 'Excuse me, ser- 
geant, I did not see you. ' I not only excused him, 
but with my comrades, to whom the incident was 
related, we all learned to revere and respect the 
kindly-hearted man, who had come to us as chief 
of staff" 

George O. Gardener relates the following story: 

After the great and sanguinary battle of Chickamauga, I 
was bound North on a twenty days' furlough. At Louisville 
I met Generals Garfield and Steedman. Garfield was going 



2C2 THE. LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

to Congress, and Steedman North on business. We hap- 
pened to go down to the ferry-boat in the same 'bus, on top 
of which were Garfield's and Steedman's negro servants. It 
appears that, owing to the fact that the emancipation procla- 
mation was not general, and did not at that time apply to 
Kentucky, that State's Legislature had taken advantage of it 
and passed laws regarding the kidnapping and confiscating of 
every stray negro the gangs of civil officers and citizens could 
lay their hands upon. Officers with posses were stationed at 
the levees, instructed and authorized to seize all negroes at- 
tempting to cross the river on the boats, no matter where 
they were from. When we went on the boat we were all in igno- 
rance of this State law, and of the fact that astrong force of men 
were on the boat for the purpose of seizing any unlucky 
darkey w^ho might be going North with the Union officers. 
My attention was first called to the fact by hearing General 
Garfield ask a pompous-looking man : "What do you want 
with that boy ?" 

I looked out of the 'bus window and noticed that the man, 
in company with others, was ordering the two boys to get 
down from the 'bus and go ashore with them. The man, 
who claimed to be the sheriff, said the boys could not go 
across the river ; that he should take possession of them, etc., 
and proceeded to force them off the boat. At this, Garfield 
and Steedman jumped out of the 'bus. Garfield was mad; 
he told these insolent men that he had been fighting rebels 
in the field for two years, that he would now do some fighting 
on the water, and that if they did not leave the boat at once 
they would get hurt. He stood between the negroes and the 
officers, and shook his fist in their faces, and dared them to 
touch the black boys who had so faithfully stood by him in 
camp and on the battle-grounds of Stone River and Chicka- 
mauga. General Steedman was mad ; he pulled off his coat 
and marched into the crowd, saying he could fight such a 
white-livered set of rascals with good relish; Chickamauga 
had had no terrors for him, neither had kidnappers. 



A SK/KAJJSH. 2t;? 

It was an exciting time for them. While Garfield and 
Steedman were getting the negroes away from the sheriff and 
his deputies, we fellows in the 'bus were getting our revolvers 
out of our valises, and we soon were out and forming a line 
of battle, one deep and far apart, in the rear of Garfield and 
Steedman. The sheriff finally exhibited a disposition to take 
the negroes at any risk. Garfield, followed by us blue-coats, 
moved on the enemy in force. They retreated "right smart ' ' 
to the shore. The sheriff, from his safe place on the shore, 
ordered the captain of the boat not to move the boat with 
the negroes on board. The captain then came to Garfield, 
and told him that he, the captain, could not take the boys 
across the river without incurring a heavy fine, and therefore 
would not move the boat. General Garfield said he would 
relieve him of responsibility, so he announced he would pilot 
the boat across if some one would volunteer to run the engine. 
Upon several of the soldiers agreeing to do it, the captain 
caved and ordered the boat untied, saying he would take the 
crowd across, and stop the 'tarnal fuss. The boat started and 
the row ended. 



C^=^^^:M§^:^C^^ 



GARFIELD^STATESMAN. 



<^2=:;^^ 



§P^=f^ 



R 



Statesmanship consists rather in removing causes than in 
punishing or evading results. 

• — Garfield's Speech on the Ninth Census 



CHAPTER XVII. 



HE APPEARS IN CONGRESS. 



GENERAL GARFIELD, after resigning 
from the army, entered a wider field of 
usefulness, than that permitted him at the 
front. But he still remained one of the nation's 
defenders. His election to Congress was the re- 
sult of the popular idea in the North during the 
summer of 1862, that the war would end In a few 
months, at least by Christmas. It was but rational, 
that the people, believing this, should reward with 
Congressional honors, those who had won distinc- 
tion in arms. 

The Congressional district, in which he lived, is 
generally called the Ashtabula district, and has 
been more faithful to Its representatives than any 
in the North, having had but four In half a century. 
It now consists of the coundes of Ashtabula, Lake, 
Granger, Trumbull and Mahoney. Portage, which 
was a part of it when Garfield was first elected, 
was detached in 1880. The district Is the Nine- 
teenth, situated in the Western Reserve — the New 
Eneland of the North-west — In North-eastern 
Ohio. It was originally setded by New Englanders ; 
and its population has the thrift, the keen intelli- 
gence, the habits of local self-government, the poll- 
22 (257) 



^ -Q THE LIFE OF FRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

tical instincts, and the morals of New England. No . 
population of equal numbers, on the long line 
reachlne from New York to Chicago, writes so 
many letters and receives through the mails so 
much reading-matter. There Is less illiteracy In 
proportion to the population, than in any other 
district in the United States. This district, the 
eastern portion of the Reserve, is essentially a ru- 
ral one, with the exception of some Iron-working 
portions in the southern end. It early became 
deeply interested In the anti-slavery movement, 
which greatly quickened the Interest of Its people 
In public affairs. This Intelligent Interest In the 
national welfare made the district accessible to 
General Garfield's earnest, straight-forward expo- 
sition of solid political doctrines, to his high bear- 
ing, to the influence of his mental and moral 
power upon Intelligent and honest minds, rather 
than to any demagogic measures. 

This district was the one, that was long made 
famous by Joshua R. Giddlngs, the anti-slavery 
champion. Having become careless of the arts of 
politics he came to look upon a nomination and 
re-election as matters of course. An ambitious 
lawyer, named Hutchins, taking advantage of this 
over-confidence, carried the convention of 1858. 
The friends of Giddlngs never forgave Hutchins, 
and cast al)out for a means of defeatlnof him. The 
old man himself, comfortably quartered In his con- 
sulate at Montreal, did not care to fight for a re- 



NOMINATED FOR CONGRESS. 



259 



turn to Congress. His supporters, therefore, 
making use of the popularity of General Garfield, 




HAl.I, OF RKPKKSKN 1 A riVKS. 



nominated him, while he was still in the army. He 
had no knowledge of such a movement; but he 



25o ^•^^^' ^^^^ OF PRESIDEiSr GARFIELD. 

accepted the nomination, believing, that the war 
would be over, before he would be called to take 
his seat. He was elected by a large majority. 
He continued his military service to the very 
opening of Congress. Even then he seriously 
thought of resigning his position as a representa- 
tive, rather than his major-general's commission ; 
and he would have done so, If there had been any 
prospect of active operations during the winter 
months. He often expressed regret, that he did 
not remain until the close of the war. Had he 
done so, he would doubdess have ranked among 
the foremost of the victorious generals of the Re- 
public. 

In December, 1863, he entered the great arena, 
where for seventeen years he was a conspicuous 
figure. Only one member of that body anteceded 
him — Judge Kelley. During all this time he was 
an active participant in the measures presented to 
Congress, and left the imprint of his ability and 
patriotism upon the legislation of the country as 
thoroughly, as any one man now in the public 
service. He certainly realized the meaning of the 
title, "a public benefactor," as defined in the fol- 
lowing quotadon from his speech of December 
loth, 1878. 

The man, who wants to serve his country, must put him- 
self in the line of its leading thought, and that is the restora- 
tion of business, trade, commerce, industry, sound political 
economy, hard money and the payment of all obligations; 



AFPEARANCE JN CONGRESS. 05- 

and the man, who can add anything in the direction of ac- 
complishing any of these purposes, is a public benefactor. 

No man with such lofty aims, as Garfield had, 
could fail to take high rank at once, even in such 
an illustrious assemblage. At the outset he was 
recognized as a leader ; and his influence grew 
with service. Placed on the military committee 
with General Schenck, its chairman,, and with 
Farnsworth, both fresh from the field, he was of 
great service, just as Rosecrans had anticipated, 
in carrying through the measures, that served to 
recruit the armies durino- the closinQf months of the 
war. His activity, industry and thorough knowl- 
edge of the wants of the army were invaluable in 
all legislation pertaining to military matters. He 
was appointed chairman of a select committee of 
seven, to investigate the alleged frauds in the 
money-printing bureau of the Treasury. He soon 
became known as a powerful speaker, remarkably 
ready and always effective In debate. 

Senator G. F. Hoar thus summed up the career, 
on which General Garfield was now enterinsf: 

Since the year 1864, you cannot think of a question which 
has been debated in Congress, or discussed before the great 
tribunal of the American people, in regard to which you will 
not find, if you wish instruction, the argument on one side 
stated, in almost every instance better than by anybody else, 
in some speech made in the House of Representatives or on 
the hustings by Mr. Garfield. 

His first speech of any length, on January 28th, 
22* 



262 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



1864, gave ample promise of his powerful oratory. 
It was a reply to his Democratic colleague, Mr. 
Finck, and favored the confiscation of rebel prop- 
erty. We quote from its brilliant passages: 

The war was announced by proclamation, and it must end 
by proclamation. We can hold the insurgent States in 
military subjection half a century if need be, until they are 
purged of their poison and stand up clean before the country. 
They must come back with clean hands, if they come at all. 
I hope to see in all those States the men, who fought and 
suffered for the truth, tilling the fields, on which they pitched 
their tents. I hope to see them, like old Kasper of Blenheim, 
on the summer evenings, with their children upon their knees, 
pointing out the spot, where brave men fell and marble com- 
memorates it. 



I deprecate these apparently partisan remarks. It hurts me 
to make them, but it hurts me more to know they are true. I 
conclude by returning once more to the resolution before me. 
Let no weak sentiments of misplaced sympathy deter us from 
inaugurating a measure, which will cleanse our nation and 
make it the fit home of freedom and a glorious manhood. 
Let us not despise the severe wisdom of our Revolutionary 
fathers, when they served their generation in a similar way. 
Let the republic drive from its soil the traitors, that have con- 
spired against its life, as God and His angels drove Satan and 
liis host from Heaven. He was not too merciful to be just, 
and to hurl down in chains and everlasting darkness the 
"traitor angel," who "first broke peace in Heaven," and 
rebelled against Him. 

He soon won additional reputation by speak- 
ing in favor of the payment of prompt and liberal 



READ J NESS LV DEB A TE. 



263 



bounties by the Federal Government for tbe en- 
couragement of enlistments. 

This readiness in debate proved, in some re- 
spects, Injurious to his rising fame. He spoke so 
readily, that members were constantly asking his 
services in behalf of favorite measures, which, with 
the impulsive eagerness of a young man and a 
young member, he often rendered. The House 
therefore wearied a little of his polished periods, 
and besfan to think him too fond of talkinof. His 
superior knowledge, too, at first offended some of 
his less learned colleagues. They thought him 
bookish and pedantic, until they found how solid 
and useful was his store of knowledge. His 
genial personal ways soon won him many warm 
friends; and a reaction set in. The men of brains 
in both houses and the departments quickly dis- 
covered his fresh, strong, intellectual force, that 
was destined to influence the politics of the 
country. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE LADDER OF HONOR. 



WHEN the time came for holding the 
Congresssional Convention of 1864, in 
the Nineteenth District, it was whis- 
pered around in the Western Reserve, that Gar- 
field had written the Wade-Davis manifesto against 
President Lincoln, or, at least, was in sympathy 
with it. The Convention, though eager to nomi- 
nate him, hesitated, because he had not condemned 
the manifesto. He was called upon to explain. 
Entering the Convendon-hall, he walked to the 
platform, planted himself firmly on it, and began 
a speech, which he must have thought, would dig 
his political grave. He spoke a half-hour only, 
telling his hearers, that he had not written the 
Wade-Davis letter, but that his only regret about 
it was, that there was a necessity for its appear- 
ance. He approved of the letter, defended the 
motives of the authors, asserted his right to inde- 
pendence of thought and acdon, and told the dele- 
gates, that, if they did not want a free agent for 
their representative, he had no desire to serve 
them longer. As he warmed with his subject, he 
captivated the Convention with his plain, hard rea- 
soning and glowing eloquence. When he had 
(264) 



INDErEXDEXT SPEAKING. 



265 



finished, he left the platform and strode out of the 
hall. As he reached the head of the stairs, before 
leavinof the buildinof he heard a Qrreat noise, which, 
he imagined, was the evidence of his unanimous 
rejection. On the contrary, it was the applause, 
that followed his nomination by acclamation. His 
very boldness had stunned the Convention, which 
had expected something entirely different from its 
leader. After a short silence an Ashtabula dele- 
gate arose, and said : " By , the man who can 

face a convention like that, ought to be nominated 
by acclamation." And he was nominated by ac- 
clamation, before his opponents in the convention 
could dissent. Governor Todd closed the meet- 
inof with the remark : " A district that will allow a 
young fellow like Garfield to tweak its nose and 
cuff its ears in that manner, deserves to have him 
saddled on it for life." 

General Garfield, speaking of this incident, said, 
that, he knew that it was a bold action for a young- 
ster, but that he believed that both Wade and Davis 
were right, and that he had determined to stand 
by them. "This showed me completely the truth 
of the maxim, 'Honesty is the best policy;' and 
I have ever since been entirely independent in my 
relations with the people of my district." 

The news of his action spread far and wide. 
A day or two afterward he met Ben. Wade, who 
seized him warmly by the hand and gratefully ac- 
knowledged his brave conduct. The young states- 



^56 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

man had the satisfaction of knowing, that he had 
o-ained a Hfe-lone friend in the oldest and best 
Statesman of Ohio. 

At the election he was returned to Congress by 
a majority of twelve thousand. He had proved 
himself such an invaluable worker, and had gained 
such a reputation in the handling of financial 
questions, that at the opening of his second term 
the Secretary of the Treasury requested that he 
be appointed on the Committee of Ways and 
Means,* the leading committee of the House. 
This was in the direct line of his tastes and studies. 
His work during this term was earnest, thorough 
and incessant; and he steadily gained in the 
estimation of his colleagues. He delivered a 
noted speech on the "Constitutional Amendment 
to Abolish Slavery;" and from the Committee on 
Military Affairs, on which he had been placed, he 
made a report on the discharge of soldiers, who 
enlisted to fill old regiments. He made noted 
speeches also on the "Freedmen's Bureau," the 
"Restoration of the Rebel States," the "Public 
Debt and Specie Payments," and the "National 
Bureau of Education." 

On March 6th of this year (1866), he argued 
the conspiracy case (Milligan, Bowles and Hor- 
sey), which had been appealed to the Supreme 
Court from the courts of Indiana. Ben. Butler, 



* The committee which matures the financial legislation of Congress and 
provides the means of raising the revenue. 



BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT. 26*^ 

Hon. James Speed and Hon. Henry Stanberry 
appeared for the United States, and Gen. Garfield, 
Hon. J. A. McDonald, Hon. J. S. Black and Hon. 
David Dudley Field for the prisoners. Mr. Gar- 
field's argument was most elaborate and bristled 
with precedents and telling points. It gained him 
a high standing in the Supreme Court, and 
brought him important cases for years afterwards. 
Its peroration was as follows: 

It is in your power, O Judges ! to erect in this citadel of 
our liberties a monument more lasting than brass ; invisible 
indeed to the eye of flesh, but visible to the eye of the spirit, 
as the awful form and figure of justice, crowning and adorn- 
ing the Republic ; rising above the storms of political strife, 
above the din of battle, above the earthquake shock of rebel- 
lion ; seen from afar and hailed as protector by the oppressed 
of all nations; dispensing equal blessings, and covering with 
the protecting shield of law the weakest, the humblest, the 
meanest, and, until declared by solemn law unworthy of pro- 
tection, the guiltiest of its citizens. 

When the nominating Convention met late in 
the summer of 1866, a few of his constituents, 
living in the Mahoning Valley, an iron-producing 
district, opposed his re-nomination because he had 
not favored as high a tariff on iron, as they wanted. 
The Convention, however, was so overwhelm- 
ingly for him, that not a single anti-Garfield dele- 
gate secured a seat. In after years he convinced 
these opponents, that a moderate duty, aftbrding 
a sufficient margin for protection, was better for 



^53 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT (GARFIELD. 

their interests than a high prohibitory rate. Early 
in his third term he was made chairman of the 
Committee on Mihtary Affairs ; and he had plenty to 
do in lookino- after the demands of the discharged 
soldiers for pay and bounty, of which many had 
been deprived by " red-tape" decisions of the Gov- 
ernment accountincr-officers. Durino- this term 
everything seemed drifting towards greenbacks 
and repudiation. Gen. Garfield took a bold 
stand, as his views were opposed to those of many 
leading men of his party, and to the declarations 
of the Republican State Committee of Ohio. 
Although he risked a re-nomination, he did not 
hesitate to avow his convictions firmly and fully. 
His financial doctrines were at length adopted by 
the entire party, and fully indorsed in the Chicago 
Republican platform. This term was marked by 
speeches, among others, on "Reconstruction," 
"the Currency," and "Taxation of United States 
Bonds." He also delivered an address on " Col- 
lege Education," before the literary societies of 
Hiram College, June 14th, 1867, and an address 
at the National Cemetery at Arlington, Va., on 
Decoradon Day, May 30th, 1868. 

He was opposed in the nominating Convention 
of 1868 by Darius Cadwell, of Ashtabula County, 
who secured forty votes chlefiy from his own 
county, and had the pleasure of seeing his oppo- 
nent elected by one of his overwhelming majori- 
ties. During this term he was chairman of the 



HIS TERM. 



269 



Committee on Banking and Currency. In ad- 
dition to his duties on this committee, he did most 
of the hard work on the Ninth Census. He also 
made a most elaborate, and painstaking report on 
remodeling the army, and a careful investigation 
of the causes of Black Friday. This report, which 
possesses none of the saw-dust filling of almost 
all of the " Pub. Docs.," is a fascinating story for 
any reader. April ist, 1870, he made a speech 
on the tariff. 

In 1870, there was no opposition in either the 
Convention or the field ; and Garfield returned to 
the capitol for his fifth term. In 1871, he was 
promoted to the chairmanship of the Committee 
on Appropriations, as successor to Henry L. 
Dawes, which he held until the Democrats secured 
control of the House, in 1875. He made speeches 
on the " McGarrahan Claim," the " Right to Orig- 
inate Revenue Bills," " Enforcing the Fourteenth 
Amendment," and '* National Aid to Education." 
He delivered, November 25th, 1 871, an elaborate 
eulogy on General George H.Thomas; and Feb- 
ruary 9th, 1872, he argued the Henderson case 
before the Supreme Court. 

In 1872, a few blank ballots were cast in the 
nominating Convention; and a liberal Republican 
was put up by the opposition at the election; but 
Garfield received his old-time majority. He de- 
livered to the students of Hudson College, July 
2d, 1873, an oration on "The Future of the Re- 
23 



270 ^-^^ ^^^^ OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

public. " In October of the same year, he was in 
the Supreme Court in the Rogers case, and con- 
tributed some papers to the Western Reserve, 
and the Northern Ohio, Historical Society. 

The year 1874 was the year of the Demo- 
cratic tidal wave, the Credit Mobilier and the "sal- 
ary-grab" having alienated many of the Republi- 
cans. Nowhere did these two affairs make a 
deeper impression than on the sensitive and 
jealous constituency represented by Mr. Garfield. 
Mr. Whittlesey and Mr. Giddings, who had pre- 
ceded General Garfield, were men of unsullied 
reputation. The faintest semblance of anything 
like an improper course of conduct was enough 
to draw forth the honest, plain-spoken indigna- 
tion of men, who would not justify the slightest 
departure from the line of right. General Gar- 
field had now represented his district in five suc- 
cessive Congresses; and, though not so well 
known as later, his name was respected through- 
out the Union. The district felt very proud of 
him. No representative held his constituency 
with a firmer hand. His tenure had promised to 
to be as long as that of Whittlesey or Giddings. 
But a Republican convention, that met in Warren 
for some local purpose, demanded his resigna- 
tion. Most men denounced, all regretted, none 
defended, what had been done. All, that the 
staunchest friends of General Garfield presumed 
to say, was; "Wait until you hear the case. Hear 



VINDICA TED. 



271 



what Garfield has to say, before you decide, that 
he is a dishonest man." Garfield wrote from 
Washington to a friend: "The district is lost; 
and, as soon as I can close up my affairs here, I 
am coming home to capture it." And he did cap- 
ture it. He issued at Washington his pamphlets, 
"Review of the Transactions of the Credit Mobi- 
lier Company" and "Increase of Salaries," and 
then went to Hiram. These pamphlets, with a 
personal speech in Warren somewhat later, con- 
stituted his direct defense. When the next cam- 
paign opened, he went, as usual, upon the stump. 
He rarely, never unless compelled, referred to the 
charges against him. He grappled with the ques- 
tions of the day, He went from county to county, 
and almost from village to village. His knowl- 
edge was so great, his argumentation so logical, 
his spirit so earnest, and his bearing, both public 
and private, so manly, that men began to ask: 
"Can it be true that General Garfield is such a 
man as they tell us?" Prejudice was slowly but 
surely overcome ; and at the polls the people's 
verdict was thus expressed: Garfield, 12,591; 
Regular Democratic ticket, 6,245; Independent 
Republican ticket, 3,427. His antagonist at that 
time was a Republican, named Casement, who 
afterwards was one of the general's best and most 
ardent friends. 

During all the storm of abuse, that darkened 
I this year, the sunshine of the future was pre- 



2-0 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

dieted. The following sonnet appeared in the 
Washington Evening Sta7\ in the Winter of 1874 : 

"TO JAMES A. GARFIELD. 

" Thou who didst ride on Chickamauga's day, 
All solitarj', down the fiery line, 
And saw the ranks of battle rusty shine, 
\Vhere grand old Thomas held them from dismay, 
Regret not now, while meaner factions play 
Their brief campaigns against the best of men ! 
For those spent-balls of slander have their way, 
And thou shalt see the victory again. 
Wear}' and ragged, though these broken lines 
Of party reel, and thine own honor bleeds. 
That mole is blind that Garfield undermines ! 
That dart falls short which hired malice speeds ! 
That man will live whose place the State assigns, 
And whose high mind tie mighty nation needs ! " 

No one now believes, that in the matters just 
alluded to, General Garfield did not act with the 
most thorough honesty. Reference is here made 
to them, simply to show the pain and distress, 
which they caused him. His feelings are reflected 
in the following letters : 



•fa 



{_To B. A. Hinsdale.^ 

Washington, February 8th, 1873. 

Nothing new has transpired since you wrote, except that 
Ames has been ordered to bring his original books and memo- 
randa. None of the papers that he presented to the commit- 
tee, in the form of accounts, were original, except the re- 
ceipts in Patterson's case. He does not pretend to have any 
receipts from me, nor any other evidence of the points in 
Avhich our testimony conflicts. The committee themselves 
have been stampeded by the general spirit of panic that has 



CREDIT MOBIL lER. 2 7^ 

prevailed, and though some of them are good lawyers, they 
have not applied the rules of evidence to this investigation. 
I think the indications are that the men here are recovering 
their balance a little, and begin to think with more calmness 
on the merits of the case. But it is, even yet, too early to 
tell into what conclusions the public judgment will settle 
down. * * * 

I expect Judge Black in town to-day, and I have no doubt 
that he will remember that I gave him, three years ago, the 
same account of my relation to the Credit Mobilier as I have 
given in my testimony. 

{To B. A. Hinsdale,) 

Washington, February 15th, 1S73. 

Ames has come and made whatever exliibition his memo- 
randum book enabled him to make. I cannot see that he has 
added anything to the strengthening of his case by the pro- 
duction of the book. The impression here is beginning to 
prevail that he fixed up his memorandum for use with his com- 
pany, to make them believe he had effected sales of his stock. 

I think it is clear that Ames intended to get members of 
Congress interested in this company, without saying anything 
to them to indicate his purpose. He does not pretend to have 
any receipts of mine, or any other evidence but his statement 
in his book of the transaction which he alleges took place be- 
■ tween us. 

The investigation is really done now, and the report will 
probably be finished in the course of three or four days. 

{To B. A. Hinsdale.) 

Washington, March 19th, 1S73. 
I am thoroughly disgusted with the way my vote on the 
salary question is treated, and I feel as if there was but little 
use in attempting to resist the senseless and wicked clamor 
which is being raised on the subject. • 

It is very singular to notice how differently the subject is 
23* 



^y. THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

treated in different parts of the country. In some, at least, 
the increase of salaries, together with the retroactive clause, 
is stoutly defended, and but little criticism is made. 

I feel this morning, though I would not say this except to 
you, like throwing up my position in disgust, and retiring 
from a field where ten years of honest work goes for naught in 
the face of one vote of which, at the very most, it can be said 
to be only a mistake honestly made and which could not 
possibly have changed the result. 

Were it not for the Credit Mobilier, I believe I would re- 
sign. 

I have not drawn the additional salary, and do not know 
that I shall. Certainly, I shall not for the present, and proba- 
bly not at all. But this I will not say in the midst of this 
storm. 

{To B. A. Hinsdale.) 

Washington, March 21st, 1873. 

When I find that I voted no less than fifteen times against 
motions made in favor of the salary amendment, and did all 
in my power, both by speech and vote, to prevent it, I feel 
keenly the injustice with which the public are treating me on 
this subject, and I begin to get really angry over it. 

{To B. A. Hinsdale.) 

Washington, April 4th, 1S73. 

I agree in all you say on the question of back pay ; but 
ncitlier truth nor ability seemed to avail anything in the face 
of this temptation. I not only have never drawn the extra 
pay, but, nearly two weeks ago, I ordered the Sergeant-at- 
Arms to close my account, and directed my back pay due me, 
$4,5°°' to be covered into the Treasury beyond my reach, or 
that of my heirs in case of my death. That has been done; 
but I felt that under no circumstances would I allow it to be 
known publicly, at least for the present. It may, however, 



UNDER TRIALS. . ^^ ^ 

be necessary by and by to let the fact come out. What do 
you think ? 

One phase of this case is most singular. Here in Washing- 
ton, among all the men who most earnestly opposed the salary 
clause from the start, I have none who attack me for the 
course I have taken, while at home the condemnation seems to 
be universal. You know that I have always said that my whole 
public life was an experiment to determine whether an intel- 
ligent people would sustain a man in acting sensibly on each 
proposition that arose, and in doing nothing for mere show 
or for demagogical effect. I do not now reniember that I 
ever cast a vote of that Htter sort. Perhaps it is true that the 
demagogue will succeed when honorable statesmanship will 
fail. If bo, public life is the hoUowest of all shams. 

{^To Col. A. F. Rockwell.) \ 

Washington, May 21st, 1S73. 

After many years of prosperity and success, it has been my 
fortune to try the discipline of disaster, without any fault or 
wrong on my part. My name has been dragged into the 
whirlpool of calumny, and I have been defending myself 
against assault. I inclose you a copy of my review of the 
Credit Mobilier rascality, and shall be glad to know how it 
strikes you. I think of you as away, and in an elysium of 
quiet and peace, where I should love to be, out of the storm 
and in the sunshine of love and books. Do not think iVom 
the above that I am despondent. There is life, and hope, 
and fight in your old friend yet. 

Writing to Prof. Hinsdale, January 4th, 1S75, 
he says: 

With me the year 1S74 has been a continuation, and in 
some respects an exaggeration of 1S73. That year brought 
me unusual trials, and brought me face to face with personal 



76 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GAKFIELD. 



assaults, and the trial that comes from calumny and public 
displeasure. This year has, perhaps, seen the culmination, if 
not the end, of that kind of experience. I have had much 
discipline of mind and heart in living the life which these 
trials brought me. Lately I have been studying myself with 
some a:ixiety to see how deeply the shadows have settled 
around my spirit. I find I have lost much of that exuberance 
of feeling, that cheerful spirit which I think abounded in me 
before. I am a little graver and less genial than I was before 
the storm struck me. The consciousness of this came to me 
slowly, but I have at last given in to it, and am trying to 
counteract the tendency. 

It is but just to General Garfield to quote the 
following summary from his "Review of the Trans- 
actions of the Credit Mobilier Company:" 

To sum it up in a word : out of an unimportant business 
transaction, the loan of a trifling sum of money as a matter of 
personal accommodation, and out of an offer never accepted, 
has arisen this enormous fabric of accusation and suspicion. 

If there be a citizen of the United States who is willing to 
believe that, for three hundred and twenty-nine dollars, I 
have bartered av/ay my good name, and to falsehood have 
added perjury, these pages are not addressed to him. If there 
be one who thinks that any part of my public life has been 
gauged on so low a level as these charges would place it, I do 
not address him. I address those who are willing to believe 
that it is possible for a man to serve the public without per- 
sonal dishonor. I have endeavored in this review to point 
out the means by which the managers of a corporation, wear- 
ing the garb of honorable industry, have robbed and 
defrauded a great national enterprise, and attempted, by cun- 
ning and deception, for selfish ends, to enlist in its interests 
those who would have been the first to crush the attempt had 
their object been known. 



AGAIN RE-ELECTED. 



277 



If any of the scheming 'corporations or corrupt rings that 
have done so much to disgrace the country by their attempts 
to control its legislation, have ever found in me a conscious 
supporter or ally in any dislionorable scheme, they are at full 
liberty to disclose it. In the discussion of the many grave 
and difficult questions of public policy which have occupied 
the thoughts of the nation during the past twelve years, I have 
borne some part ; and I confidently appeal to the public re- 
cords for a vindication of my conduct. 

In 1876, he was again re-elected. He served 
durino- this term as a member of the Committee 
on Rules, in recognition of his rare knowledge of 
parliamentary law. In 1877, Mr. Blaine took his 
seat in the Senate ; and the mande of the Repub- 
lican leadership in the House, by common con- 
sent, descended to Gen, Garfield — a mande, which 
he continued to wear with honor. He was, at the 
opening of this Congress, the Repuplican candi- 
date for the speakership ; but the Democrats, who 
were largely in the majority, elected Mr. Randall. 
This year, the appointment of Senator Sherman 
to the secretaryship of the Treasury, his own in- 
clinations and the support of his friends in Ohio 
led him to aspire to the vacant senatorial chair. 
President Hayes is understood to have been effec- 
tive in preventing him from becoming a senatorial 
candidate, representing, that his services were 
more needed as Speaker of the House. Mr. 
Stanley Matthews was elected Senator. When 
the House was organized, the Speakership was 
secured by the Democracy; and General Garfield 



278 



THE LIFE OF FRESIDEN7' GARFIELD. 



was " left out in the cold." Two years later, how- 
ever, the Democracy carried Ohio, and elected 
" Gentleman George" Pendleton to Matthews' seat 
In the Senate. 

In 1878, Garfield was re-elected by a majority 
of 9,613. Men, who had been almost denuncia- 
tory, were now warmest in his praise ; and his 
friends, who had stood by him throughout the 
storm, actually supplied such criticism, as every 
public man possibly needs, to keep him in his 
proper tone. 

As it was in the district, so it was in the state. 
In a sense, he had become, in 1878, the represen- 
tative of Ohio. He passed through a state, as 
well as a district, ordeal, and came out approved. 
What then was more natural, than that, when the 
election gave the Ohio Legislature to the Repub- 
licans, and the party looked around for a successor 
to Allen G. Thurman on the 4th of March, 1880, 
Gen. Garfield should be the man ? He received 
the complimentary vote of the Republican mem- 
bers of the caucus in 1878; but after a protracted 
and bitter contest, his name was withdrawn,and It 
was resolved to cast only blank votes In the two 
houses. This time ex-Senator Stanley Matthews, 
ex-Attorney-General Alphonso Taft and ex-Gov- 
ernor William Denlson had entered into a canvass 
for the place ; but when the caucus met, the gen- j 
eral sentiment of the state was so earnest and ^ 
enthusiastic in favor of Garfield, that his three 



CHOSE X TO TJIE SEXA'lE. 2 70 

competitors withdrew without waiting- for a ballot, 
and he was nominated unanimously by a rising 
Vote, an honor never accorded to any other man 
of any party in the State of Ohio. He was elected 
by a majority of 22 In the Assembly and of 7 in 
the Senate. 

Concernine this election, he wrote his friend 
Hinsdale: 

Washington, January i8th, 1880. 

At first, let me say that among the 1,200 letters and tele- 
grams that have come to me since my nomination to the Sen- 
ate, no one has touched all the points of the case so perfectly 
as you have in your letter of the 13th instant. I need not 
say a word about the nomination and election and my rela- 
tions to it, for you have said it all. This, however, I may say 
on another phase of the subject : on many accounts my trans- 
fer to the Senate brings sad recollections. Do you remember 
the boy "Joe" in one of Dicken's novels who said that 
everybody was always telling him to " move on ;" that, when- 
ever he stopped to look in at a window to long for ginger- 
bread, or catch a glimpse of the pictures, the voice of the 
inexorable policemen made him "move on?" I have felt 
something of this in the order that sends me away from the 
House. It is a final de])arture. 

He wrote Professor Hinsdale as follows; 

' Washington, April 21st, 1880. 

I share your regret that I am so much absorbed in political 
work; but the position I hold in the House requires an 
enormous amount of surplus work. I am compelled to look 
ahead at questions likely to be sprung upon us for action, and 
the fact is, I prepare for debate on ten subjects where I 
actually take part in but one. For examole : it seemed cer- 



2 go THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT G A f: FIELD. 

tain that the Fitz John Porter case would be discussed in the 
House, and I devoted the best of two weeks to a careful re- 
axamination of the old material and a study of the new. 

These is now lying on top of my book-case a pile of books, 
revisions and manuscripts, three feet long by a foot and a half 
high, which I accumulated and examined for a debate, which 
certainly will not come off this session, and perhaps not at 
all. I must stand in the breach to meet whatever question 
comes. * * * 

I look forward to the Senate as at least a temporary relief 
from this heavy work. * * * j ^^j^ jysj- j^q^. jj^ antagonism 
with my own party on legislation in reference to the election 
law, and here also I have prepared for two discussions, and as 
yet I have not spoken on either. * * * 

I am sorry you did not write me in regard to my going to 
Chicago. I have refused to be a delegate from my district, 
but I think it likely that the State Convention will elect me 
as a delegate at large. I prefer not to go at all ; but, if I am 
chosen, I suppose I had better go. 

It will be a propos to relate here a little incident. 
Soon after Thurman's election and Wade's retire- 
ment, his friends in Ohio proposed, that the " Old 
War Horse" should be sent to the House. Wade 
lived in Garfield's district. As soon as the gen- 
eral heard of the proposition to send Wade to the 
House, he cordially indorsed it, saying: " The na- 
tion can better afford to spare me from its coun- 
cils, than it can to spare Ben Wade. Let him be 
sent to the House in my place." When Wade 
heard of what was on foot, he said : " Now, put 
a stop to it, and at once. What a devil of an 
idea ! sending me to the House as if I were essen- 



Bi:.\' WADE-.S ADVjCE. 



281 



tial to its existence ! Why, I wouldn't go, if I 
was unanimously nominated and elected. You 
have a good representative in Garfield, and I ad- 
vise you to stick to him. I am old, and had better 
be getting ready to die than thinking of office. I 
have had enough of public office, and only wish to 




SENATE CHAMBER. 

be let alone now. Garfield Is young, faithful and 
able. Send him back and keep him there — sdck 
to him. I tell you, there Is no telling how high 
that fellow may go." 

At Columbus, on January, 14th, iSSo, he ac- 
knowledged his election as United States Senator 
In the following admirable speech : 
24 



og^ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Fellow-citizens: — I should be a great deal more than a 
man, or a great deal less than a man, if I were not extremely 
gratified by this mark of your kinkness you have shown to me 
in recent days. I did not expect any such a meeting as this. 
I knew there was a greeting awaiting me, but I did not ex- 
pect so cordial, generous and general a greeting, without dis- 
tinction of party, without distinction of interests, as I have 
received here to-night. 

I recognize the importance of the position to which you have 
elected me, and I should be base if I did not recognize the 
great man whom you have elected me to succeed. I say for 
him, Ohio has had few larger-minded, broader-minded men 
in the record of her history than that of Allen G. Thurman. 
Differing widely from him, as I have done in politics and do, 
I recognize him as a man high in character and great in intel- 
lect ; and I take this occasion to refer to what I have never 
before referred to in public — that many years ago, in the 
storm of party fighting, when the air was filled with all sorts 
of missiles aimed at the character and reputation of public 
men, when it was even for his party interest to join the general 
clamor against me and my associates, SenatorThurmansaid in 
public, in the campaign, on the stump — where men are as 
likely to say unkind things as at any place in the world — a 
most generous and earnest word of defense and kindness for 
me, which 1 shall never forget so long as I live. I say, more- 
over, that the flowers that bloom over the garden-wall of party 
politics, are the sweetest and most fragrant that bloom in 
the gardens of this world, and, where we can fairly pluck 
them and enjoy their fragrance, it is manly and delightful 
to do so. 

And now, gentlemen of the general assembly, without 
distinction of party, I recognize this tribute and compliment 
made to me to-night. Whatever my own course may be in 
the future, a large share of the inspiration of my future public 
life will be drawn from this occasion and these surroundings. 



NOBLE WORDS. 28'' 

and I shall feel anew the sense of obligation that I feel to the 
State of Ohio. 

June 8th, 1880, he was nominated at Chicago 
for the Presidency, and on July 6th elected a trus- 
tee of Williams Collecfe. 

We have in this chapter given nothing more than 
a brief outline of his career. We add portions of 
two interesting letters, which he wrote to Prof. Hins- 
dale. The first is dated Washington, December 
I ith, 1865. 

We have begun, as you have seen, and currents are begin- 
ning to develope their direction and strength only feebly as 
yet. We appear to have a very robust House, and indica- 
tions thus far show it to be a very sound one. The message 
is much better than we expected, and I have hoped that we 
shall be able to work with the President. He sent for me 
day before yesterday, and we had a free conversation. I gave 
him the views of the earnest men North as I understand them, 
and we tried to look over the whole field of the difficulties 
before us. 

They are indeed many and formidable. Sumner and Bout- 
well and some more of that class are full of alarm ; less, how- 
ever, than when they first came. Some foolish men among 
us are all the while bristling up for fight, and seem to be anx- 
ious to make a rupture with Johnson. I think we should as- 
sume that he is with us, treat him kindly, without suspicion, 
and go on in a firm, calmly considered course, leaving him 
to make the breach with the party if any is made. I doubt 
if he would do it under such circumstances. The caucus re- 
solution of Thaddeus Stevens was bad in some of its features. 
It was rushed through before the caucus was fully assembled, 



^o. THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

and, while it expresses the sentiment of the House in its main 
propositions, there are some points designed to antagonize 
with the President. It still lies over in the Senate, where it 
will be modified, if it passes at all. 



The second is likewise from Washington. 

Washington, D. C, January ist, 1S67. 

I am less satisfied with the present aspect of public affairs 
than I have been for a long time. I find that many of the 
points and doctrines, both in general politics and finance, 
which I believe in and desire to see prevail, are meeting with 
more opposition than heretofore, and are in imminent danger 
of being overborne by popular clamor and political passion. 
In reference to reconstruction, I feel that if the Southern 
States should adopt the Constitutional Amendments within a 
reasonable time, we are literally bound to admit them to 
representation; if they reject them, then I am in favor of 
striking for impartial suffrage, though I see that such a course 
is beset with grave dangers. Now Congress seems deter- 
mined to rush forward without waiting even for the action of 
the Southern States, thus giving the South the impression, 
and our political enemies at home a pretext for saying, that 
we were not in good faith when we offered the Constitutional 
Amendments. * * * Really, there seems to be a fear on 
the part of many of our friends that they may do some ab- 
surdly extravagant thing to prove their radicalism. I am try- 
ing to do two things: dare to be a radical and not be a fool, 
which, if I may judge by the exhibitions around me, is a 
matter of no small difficulty. I wish the South would adopt 
the Constitutional Amendments soon and in good temper. 
Perliaps they will. * * * Next, the Supreme Court has 
decided the case I argued last winter, and the papers are in- 
sanely calling for the abolition of the court. * * * In 
reference to finance, I believe that the great remedy for our 



^RAVING PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 28 5- 

ills is an early return to specie payments, which can only be 
effected by the contraction of our paper currency. There is 
a huge clamor against both and in favor ot expansion. You 
know my views on the tariff. I am equally assaulted by the 
free-traders and by the extreme tariff men. There is passion 
eneugh in the country to run a steam-engine in every village, 
and a spirit of proscription which keeps pace with the pas- 
sion. My own course is chosen, and it is quite probable it 
will throw me out of public life. 
24* 



CHAPTER XIX. 



AN ORNAMENT OK CONGRESS. 




ENERAL GARFIELD'S career in Con- 
gress was essentially one of work. His 

speeches, reports, resolutions, debates, etc.* 
number hundreds. His powers as an orator will be 
mentioned in the next chapter. As a debater he had 
few equals. Producing always mi overwhelming ar- 
ray of facts, he was a 

" Tower of strength, 
Which stands four stjuare to all the winds that blow. ! " 

He was thorough in committee work, assiduous 
in private study of pending questions, and able 
in debate — by no means a common combination 
of qualities. He interested himself in subjects of 
great importance to the public, such as the census, 
education, scientific surv^eys, and the life-saving 
service. As the Republican leader In the House, 
he w^as more conservative than Blaine; and his 
judicial turn of mind, leading him to look at both 
sides of a question, always relieved him of the 
charge of partisanship. When the issue fairly 
touched his convictions, however, he became thor- 
oughly aroused and struck tremendous blows. 
Blaine's tactics w^ere to harass the enemy continu- 
ally by sharp-shooting, surprises and picket-firing. 

(286) 



CHARACTERISTICS IN CONGRESS. 2Z1 

Garfield always waited for an opportunity Tor a 
pitched battle ; and his generalship was shown to 
best advantaee, when the fiofht was a fair one, and 
waged on ground, where each party thought 
itself the stronger. Then his solid shot of argu- 
ment was exceedingly effective. He always took 
a genuine pride in the historical achievements of 
the Republican party, with which he was identified 
from its birth. He had a traditional leaning to- 
ward all measures for the advantage of the freed- 
men or for curtailing the influence of the party, 
which he held responsible for the Rebellion. 
Nevertheless, he was by no means deficient in 
generous impulses toward the South ; and more 
than once he exerted his influence to prevent the 
passage of rash partisan legislation against the in- 
terests of that section. The "Confederate Briga- 
diers" in Congress found him a determined but 
chivalrous adversary; but he never stooped to 
take unfair advantage of the numerical prepon- 
derance of his party. As leader of a Republican 
minority in the House of Representadves, he 
knew how to reconcile party-fealty with a concilia- 
tory disposition towgird the party in power, and 
was not unduly obtrusive of legislation, which did 
not, in his opinion, transcend the fair limits of 
party predominance. He was in all things a calm, 
courteous, determined leader ot men, 

"ricli in saving common sense, 
And, a.-, the wisest only arc, 
In his simpHcity subhme. " 

T 



2gg THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

He was not a practical politician, knowing little 
about the machinery of caucuses and conventions 
or the methods of conducting close campaigns. 
As a politician in the larger and better sense of 
shaping the policy of a great party, however, he 
had few equals. To no man is the Republican 
party more indebted for its successes In recent 
years than to James A. Garfield. 

With the single exception of 1867, when he 
spent several weeks in Europe, for a time in com- 
pany with Senators Blaine and Morrill, he worked 
hard on the stump for the Republican party in 
every campaign after entering Congress. He was 
one of the best stump-orators of his party. He 
had a good voice, evident sincerity, great clearness 
and vigor of statement, and a way of knitting his 
arguments together, so as to make a speech 
deepen its impression on the mind of the hearer, 
until the climax clinched the argument forever. 
During his last ten years, his services were in de- 
mand in all parts of the country. He usually re- 
served half of his time for the Ohio canvas, and 
gave the other half to other States. The No- 
vember elecdons found him worn and haesfard 
with travel and speaking in the open air; but his 
constitudon was so robust, that, after a few weeks 
of rest on his farm, he always appeared in Wash- 
ington refreshed, and ready for his duties. 

A mind so prone as his to look philosophically 
into his surroundings could not fail to have studied 



POLITICAL SPOILS. 



289 



the history and functions of the body of which he 
was such an illustrious member. It will be fitting 
to follow his criticism of that body In his article, 
"A Century in Congress," which he contributed to 
the Atlantic Monthly of July, 1S77: 

Congress has always been and must always be the theatre 
of contending opinions, the forum, where the opposing forces 
of political philosophy meet to measure their strength ; where 
the public good must meet the assaults of local and sectional 
interests — in a word, the appointed place, where the nation 
seeks to utter its thoughts and register its will. 

In the main, the balance of power so admirably adjusted 
and distributed among the three great departments of the 
Government has been safely preserved. It was the purpose 
of our fathers to lodge absolute power nowhere ; to leave each 
departm.ent independent within its own sphere ; yet, in every 
case, responsible for the exercise of its discretion. But some 
dangerous innovations have been made. And first, the ap- 
pointing power of the President has been seriously encroached 
upon by Congress, or rather by the members of Congress. 
Curiously enough, this encroachment originated in the act of 
the chief executive himself. The fierce popular hatred of the 
Federal party, which resulted in the elevation of Jefferson to 
the presidency, led that officor to set the first example of 
removing men from office on account of political opinions. 
For political causes alone, he removed a considerable number 
of officers who had recently been appointed by President 
Adams, and thus set the pernicious example. His immediate 
successors made only a few removals for political reasons. 
But Jackson made his political opponents, who were in office, 
feel the full weight of his executive hand. From that time 
forward, the civil offices of the Government became the 
prizes, for which political parties strove; and twenty-five 
years ago, the corrupting doctrine that ** to the victors belong 



2QQ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the spoils " was shamelessly announced as aji article of political 
faith and practice. It is hardly possible to state with adequate 
force the noxious influence of this doctrine. * =1= * The 
present system invades the independence of the executive, 
and makes him less responsible for the character of his 
appointments ; it impairs the efficiency of the legislator, by 
diverting him from his proper sphere of duty, and involving 
him in the intrigues of aspirants for office; it degrades the 
civil service itself, by destroying the personal independence 
of those who are appointed ; it repels from the service those 
high and manly qualities which are so necessary to a pure and 
efficient administration; and, finally, it debauches the public 
mind by holding up public office as the reward of mere party 
zeal. To reform this service is one of the highest and most 
imperative duties of statesmanship. This reform cannot be 
accomplished without a complete divorce between Congress 
and the Executive in the matter of appointments. It will be 
a proud day, when an administrator, senator or representa- 
tive, who is in good standing in his party, can say, as Thomas 
Hughes said, during his recent visit to this country, that, 
though he was on the most intimate terms with the members 
of his administration, yet it was not in his power to secure the 
removal of the humblest clerk in the civil service of his gov- 
ernment. 

I have long believed that the official relations between 
the Executive and Congress should be more open and direct. 
They are now conducted by correspondence with the pre- 
siding officers of the two Houses, by consultation with com- 
mittees, or by private interviews with individual members. 
This frequently leads to misunderstandings, and may lead to 
corrupt combinations. It would be for better for both de- 
partments, if the members of the cabinet were permitted to 
sit in Congress and participate in the debates on measures re- 
lating to their several departments, but of course, without a 
vote, lliis would tend to secure the ablest men for the chief 
executive offices. It would bring the policy of the admini- 



NATIONAL PERILS. 20 I 

stration into the fullest publicity by giving both parties ample 
opportunity for criticism and defense. 

The most alarming feature of our situation is the fact, that 
so many citizens of high character and solid judgment pay but 
little attention to the sources of political power, to the selec- 
tion of those, who shall make their laws. The clergy, the 
faculties of colleges, and many of the leading business men 
of the community never attend the township caucus, the city 
primaries or the county conventions ; but they allow the less 
intelligent and the more selfish and corrupt members of the 
community to make the slates and " run the machine " of poli- 
tics. They wait until the machine has done its work, and 
then, in surprise and horror at the ignorance and corruption 
in public, sigh for the return of that mythical period, called 
the "better and purer days of the Republic." It is precisely 
this neglect of the first steps in our political processes, that has 
made possible the worst evils of our system. Corrupt and in- 
competent presidents, judges and legislators can be removed ; 
but when the fountains of political power are corrupted, when 
voters themselves become venal and elections fraudulent, there 
is no remedy except by awakening the public conscience and 
bringing to bear upon the subject the power of public opinion 
and the penalties of the law. The practice of buying and 
selling votes at our popular elections has already gained a foot- 
hold, though it has not gone so far as in England. In a 
word our national safety demands, that the fountains of politi- 
cal power shall be made pure by intelligence and kept pure 
by vigilance ; that the best citizens shall take heed to the 
selection and election of the worthiest and most intelligent 
among them to hold seats in the national legislature ; and 
that when the choice has been made, the continuance of their 
representatives shall depend upon their faithfulness, their 
ability and their willingness to work. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE orator's power. 

WE now invite the reader's attention 
to Garfield, as he appears in his 
speeches. If we cannot fully show 
his rare oratorical powers from his own words, it is 
because space forbids. 

It was impossible for a man, so large hearted 
and so patriotic as Garfield, not to have felt deeply 
the death of Abraham Lincoln. He saw, that it 
was not the hand of one man, but the spirit of 
secession, aiming a last despairing blow at the 
great principles, that had conquered it. Naturally 
then his was the tongue to give some expression 
to the nation's grief. In the exciting hours, that 
followe'd Booth's cowardly pistol-shot, when the 
whole North was stirred with a whirlwind of mad 
passion, Garfield's hand was apparent In staying 
the impending storm, in counseling the wiser 
course. 

In the incident, which we are about to mention, 
the extraordinary moral power, which he always 
exerted over men, was perhaps never shown to 
better advantage. This incident is related by a dis- 
tinguished public man, who was an eye-witness of 
the exciting events. 
(292) 



A POPL'LAR J'KKNZY. ^„^ 

He very graphically described the scenes, which 
he witnessed in New York City on the receipt of 
the news of Lincoln's assassination — the angry 
grief of the crowd, as they swore to avenge the 
murder of the martyred President ; the immense 
assemblacje in front of the Wall Street Exchange ; 
the patient waiting for the coming of Gen. Butler 
from Washino-ton ; the thrillinof effect of his ar- 
rival; his heart-broken greeting to his friends, 
" Gentlemen, he died in the fullness of his fame !" 
" when his lips quivered and the tears ran fast 
down his cheeks;" the speeches of Butler and 
others from the balcony of the Exchange, and the 
frenzy of the crowd at these speeches. ■ The eye- 
witness continues: 

By this time the wave of popular indignation had swelled to 
its crest. Two men lay bleeding on one of the side streets; 
the one dead, the other next to dying ; one on the pavement, 
the other in the gutter. They had said a moment before : 
'' Lincoln ought to have been shot long ago !" They were 
not allowed to say it again. Soon two long pieces of scant- 
ling stood out above the heads of the crowd, crossed at the top 
like the letter X, and a looped halter pendant from the junc- 
tion, a dozen men following its slow motion through the 
masses, while "Vengeance" was the cry. On the right, sud- 
denly, the shout rose, '' The World !" <'the World!" "the of- 
fice of the AVorld !" "World!" "World!" and a movement of 
perhaps eight thousand or ten thousand turning their faces in 
the direction of that building began to be executed. It was 
a critical moment. What might come no one could tell, 
did that crowd get in front of that office. Police and mili- 
tary would have availed little or been too late. A telegram 

25 



^^, THE LII-E OF PKESIDENl GARFIELD. 

294 

had just been read from Washington, "Seward is dying." Just 
then, at that juncture, a man stepped forward with a small 
flag in his hand, and beckoned to the crowd. "Another 
telegram from Washington !" And then, in the awful stillness 
of the crisis, taking advantage of the hesitation of the crowd, 
whose steps had been arrested a moment, a right arm was 
lifted skyward, and a voice, clear and steady, loud and dis- 
tinct, spoke out, " Fellow-citizens ! Clouds and darkness are 
round about Him ! His pavilion is dark waters and thick 
clouds of the skies ! Justice and judgment are the habitation 
of His throne ! Mercy and truth shall go before His face? 
Fellow-citizens ! God reigns and the Government at Washing- 
ton still lives!" The effect was tremendous. The crowd 
stood riveted to the ground with awe, gazing at the motion- 
less orator, and thinking of God and the security of the 
Government in that hour. As the boiling wave subsides and 
settles to the sea, when some strong wind beats it down, so 
the tumult of the people sank and became still. All took it 
as a divine omen. It was a triumph of eloquence, inspired 
by the moment, such as falls to but one man's lot, and that 
but once in a century. The genius of Webster, Choate, 
Everett, Seward, never reached it. What might have hap- 
})ened had the surging and maddened mob been let loose, none 
can tell. The man for the crisis was on the spot, more potent 
than Napoleon's guns at Paris. I inquired what his name. 
The answer came in a low whisper, "It is General Garfield, of 
Ohio!" 

It was Garfield, who made the speech, when the 
House took official action on the death of Presi- 
dent Lincoln and who again (February i 2th, 1878), 
retouched with his eloquent powers the same 
theme, when receiving, on behalf of the nation, 
F. B. Carpenter's painting of Lincoln and Eman- 



WONDERFUL ORATORY. 2Q=^ 

cipation. He also delivered a masterly eulogy of 
General Thomas. 

The reader pauses here, and recalls instinc- 
tively the terrible days with which July, 1881, 
opened : the dastardly assassination, the loner 
hours of the President's tarrying- at the gate of 
death, the suspense and silent agony of the na- 
tion ! The mighty voice of some past-time prophet 
as it were, comes echoing Garfield's words, with 
which he held a whole city at bay : " Fellow-citi- 
zens : God reigns, and .the Government at Wash- 
ington still lives!" Was it the hand of Provi- 
dence, that brought him so conspicuously to the 
front at Lincoln's death, to point years ahead to 
his own trial and agony from an assassin's bullet ? 

It was eminently natural, that he should have 
been the chosen orator on such occasions ; for 
every act of his life was a testimony in defence of 
his country, which he loved so well. Speaking 
on its future, he said, at Hudson College : 

Distance, estrangement, isolation have been overcome by 
the recent amazing growth in the means of intercommunica- 
tion. For political and industrial purposes California and 
Massachusetts are nearer neighbors to-day, than were Phila- 
delphia and Boston in the days of the Revolution. It was 
distance, isolation, ignorance of separate parts, that broke the 
cohesive force of the great empires of antiquity. Fortunately, 
our greatest line of extension is from cast to west, and our 
pathway along the parallels of latitude are not too broad for 
safety — for it lies within the zone of national development. 
The Gulf of Mexico is our special providence on the south. 



296 



THE LIFE OF FKESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Perhaps it would be more fortunate for us if the northern 
shore of that gulf stretched westward to the Pacific. If our 
territory embraced the tropics, the sun would be our enemy. 
"The stars in their courses" would fight against us. Now 
these celestial forces are our friends, and help to make us one. 
Let us hope the Republic will be content to maintain this 
friendly alliance. 

Our northern boundary is not yet wholly surveyed. Per- 
haps our neighbors across the lakes will some day take a hint 
from nature, and save themselves and us the discomfort of an 
artificial boundary. Restrained within our present southern 
limits with a population more homogeneous than that of any 
other great nation, and with a wonderful power to absorb and 
assimilate to our own type the European races that come 
among us, we have but little reason to fear that we shall be 
broken up by divided interests and internal feuds because of 
our great territorial extent. Finally, our great hope for the 
future — our great safeguard against danger, is to be found in 
the general and thorough education of our people and in the 
virtue which accompanies such education. And all these 
elements depend, in a large measure, upon the intellectual 
and moral culture of the young men who go out from our 
higher institutions of learning. From the standpoint of this 
general culture we may trustfully encounter the perils that 
assail us. Secure against dangers from abroad, united at 
home by the stronger ties of common interest and patriotic 
pride, holding and unifying our vast territory by the most 
potent forces of civilization, relying upon the intelligent 
strength and responsibility of each citizen, and, most of all, 
upon the power of truth, without undue arrogance, we may 
hope that in the centuries to come our Republic will continue 
to live and hold its high place among the nations as 

"The heir of all the ages in the foremost files of time." 

It is impossible even to indicate in our limited 
space the vast amount of his oratorical work. His 



L ITERAR V ADDRESSES, 20 7 

speeches in and out of Congress would fill a large 
volume. The versatility of his genius was especi- 
ally shown in the happy speeches, which he made 
during the period from his nomination to the 
Presidency to his inauguration. He showed him- 
self a true orator in his rare talent of adaptability. 
His power was displayed in many fields — on the 
floor of the House, before the bench of the Su- 
preme Court, in college-halls, in many an assem- 
bly-room in the cities, towns and villages of the 
East and West. Though most of his speeches 
were necessarily on political topics, yet he found 
leisure, in the midst of his pressing duties, to de- 
vote himself to purely literary subjects. We quote 
the following passage from his scholarly address 
on Burns: 

To appreciate the genius and achievements of K.obert 
Burns, it is fitting to compare him with others, who have been 
eminent in the same field. In the highest class of lyric 
poetry their names stand eminent. Their field covers eigh- 
teen centuries of time, and their three names are Horace, 
Beranger and Burns. It is an interesting and suggestive fact, 
that each of these sprang from the humble walks of life. Each 
may be described as one, 

" Who begs a brother of the earth 
To give him leave to toil," 

and each proved by his life and achievements that, however 
hard the lot of poverty, " a man's a man for a' that." 

A great writer has said, that it took the age forty years to 
catch Burns, so far was he in advance of the thoughts of 
25* 



298 



THE LIFE 01' /'RESIDENT GARFIELD. 



his times. But we ought not to be surprised at the power he 
exhibited. We are apt to be misled when we seek to find the 
cause of greatness in the schools and universities alone. There 
is no necessary conflict between nature and art. In the highest 
and best sense art is as natural as nature. We do not wonder 
at the perfect beauty of the rose, although we may not under- 
stand the mysteries, by which its delicate petals are fashioned 
and fed out of the grosser elements of earth. We do not 
wonder at the perfection of the rose, because God is the 
artist. When He fashioned the germ of the rose-tree, He 
made possible the beauties of its flower. The earth and air 
and sunshine conspired to unfold and adorn it — to tint and 
crown it with peerless beauty. When the Divine Artist would 
produce a poem, He plants a germ of it in a human soul; and, 
out of that soul, the poem springs and grows, as from the rose- 
tree the rose. 

Burns was a child of nature. He lived close to her beat- 
ing heart, and all the rich and deep sympathies of life glowed 
and lived in his heart. The beauties of earth, air and sky 
filled and transfigured him. 

" He did but sing because he must, 
And piped but as the linnets sing." 

With the light of his genius he glorified " the banks and 
braes" of his native land, and, speaking for the universal 
human heart, has set its sweetest thought to music, 

" Whose echoes roll from soul to soul, 
And grow forever and forever." 

General Garfield was a diligent student and a 
great reader, as his speeches all showed. He 
rarely spoke without due preparation ; and even 
on such topics as finance and tariff, he always 
swayed his hearers. 



HIS LOVE OF READING. 2 QQ 

The following letters give some idea of his love 
of reading : 

Washington, July 3otli, 1873. 
In the course of thinking over your life and mine, I was 
strongly impressed with the conviction, that you and I ought 
to study German and master it. I had considerable know- 
ledge of it some years ago, but have neglected it and should 
need to begin the work almost anew. French h'ls been more 
important to me, for the reason that more financial discussion 
appears in French than in German. But to profound theo- 
logical scholarship German is indispensable. I think your 
mind is rather of the Teutonic type, and you would be im- 
measurably benefited, were you to draw from the great Ger- 
man storehouse of criticism. It is a large undertaking to 
master a foreign language ; but I think you ought to under- 
take it at once. 

Washington, October 27th, 1873. 
I have read the paper of Mr. Warren, as reported in the 
Methodist, and have stopped to consider the marked passage. 
The statement of the author in reference to the part, played 
by Whitefield in laying the foundation of colonial unit}-, is 
new to me. I do not know that it is historically true; but 
it bears many external evidences of truth. If it is true, it is 
a very important element in the history of this Republic, and 
shows that religion played even a broader part in the forma- 
tion of our nation tharf I had supposed. After reading the 
article, I read a brief sketch of Whitefield's life in Brown's 
Encyclopaedia, and find some discrepancies between that arid 
Warren. For example, Warren says, that Whitefield crossed 
the Atlantic nineteen times. The Encyclopaedia mentions 
each of his voyages by date, and says that his seventh was his 
last. This would make thirteen times across the Atlantic. 
The Encyclopaedia seems to have viewed Whitefield's life 
mainly from an English standpoint, and it may be for that 



-"OO '^'^^^ ^^^^ ^^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

reason, that his American work does not stand out in such 
prominence in the Encyclopaedia as in Warren's article, 

If I had had time in my lecture last evening, I should have 
spoken of the struggle between Protestantism and Catholi- 
cism for the possession of this continent. Warren's article 
informs us how striking was the contrast between the unity of 
the ecclesiastical power of France and Spain on the one 
hand, and the discord of the English Protestants on the At- 
tantic slope on the other. If Whitefield brought about ecclesi- 
astical union, he prepared the way for the colonial triumph of 
England over France in 1 763, and the triumph of the colonies 
over England in 1783. 

Washington, January 8th, 1874. 
1 can't see that he (John Stuart Mill) ever came to com- 
prehend human life as a reality from the actual course of 
human affairs beginning with Greek life down to our own. 
Men and women were always, with him, more or less of the 
nature of abstractions; while, with his enormous mass of 
books, he learned a wonderful power of analysis, for which 
he was by nature surprisingly fitted. But his education was 
narrow, just where his own mind was originally deficiei.l. 
He was educated solely through books ; for his father w )s 
never a companion. His brothers and sisters bored him. He 
had no playfellows, and of his mother not a word is said in 
his autobiography. 

Washington, November 14th, 1874. 
I have commenced work again on my committee, but still 
I may find time to do some reading. My reading, however, 
is like the wanderings of a man in a pleasant forest, without 
much plan or purpose. I am now, however, trying to get a 
better view of the literature and intellectual life of Germany 
connected with Goethe and his times. 

The Golden Age once said of his reading and 
scholarship : 



ECOAOMY 01' TIME. -qj 

When a long-winded and unimportant discussion blows up 
in the House, watch Garfield. He is an economist of time. 
Chatting and buttonholing as he goes, he quietly glides out, 
passes through the rotunda, and escapes into the serene realm 
of Mr. Spofford, where, amid all that amplitude of books, he 
regales himself in reading and in literary conversation. He 
and Mr. Spofford are close friends, and whenever a box of 
new books arrives from New York or Europe, a message gets 
to Mr. Garfield to that effect, and he has the first peep. He 
is a late student. He burns the midnight gas. In his position, 
no man can study continuously, till the benign night, which 
hushes the world and sends office-seekers and log-rollers to 
bed, gives repose to his door-bell and leaves him a few hours 
for himself. Here once more comes to his aid that royal 
health of his. Thus Mr. Congressman Garfield is able to keep 
his mind freshened by delightful letters, and to prosecute 
those more rugged investigations in law, social science, 
philosophy and politics, in which the coming statesmen of 
America must be expert. 

The Chicago Ti-ibiuie thus noticed his scholar- 
ship : 

Garfield finds time to read nearly all the new books, and to 
keep up a regular course of readings in the old ones. He has a 
hungry brain and a wonderful consfitution. This has been 
the method of his busy life. The last few weeks have warned 
him that he cannot "stand the racket." Garfield reads 
everywhere — in the cars going to the Capitol, in the cars 
returning from his daily work, and in his committee-room. 
He will fight Jim Beck about the necessity of building fortin-' 
cations at distant points, and contest with a Granger from the 
Modoc country about the Modoc claims ; yet in the interim, 
will find time to give ten minutes to " silly old Bozzy," or 
some of his charming comrades. I should say that the secret 
of Garfield's resources in debate, the freshness of his illus- 



<,Q2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

trations, his ready references to literature in all its branches, 
is due to his voracious literary appetite. '' I have read," he 
said, " since I have been lying here struggling with this pain, 
eighteen volumes ; and I have indexed and commonplaced 
them all." Pretty fair work, I take it, for six weeks of mid- 
summer in Washington. 

The two following letters are still further evi- 
dence of Garfield's scholarly tastes: the first is from 
Professor Demmon, formerly of Hiram College, 
now of the University of Michigan, to Professor 
Hinsdale: 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, July 9th, 1880. 

My Dear Hinsdale : In regard to General Garfield's 
scholarship, it seems to me, that a paragraph in your speech 
of June 19th sums up the matter admirably. I do not see how 
your statement of the case can be improved upon. 

During my two years as Professor of the Ancient Languages 
at Hiram, I had the honor of frequent conversations with the 
General ; and naturally the conversation sometimes turned 
on the classics. I was often surprised at his familiarity with 
these subjects, and particularly at his readiness in quoting from 
Latin authors. There was no affectation, no straining, no 
dragging in of classical allusions, so characteristic of the 
pedant, but a simplicity ari^ spontaneity entirely in consonance 
with the subject and the occasion. Horace and Virgil, espe- 
cially the former, seem to have been his favorites among the 
Latin poets. As I happened to be teaching the Odes of 
Horace, at his invitation I often exchanged letters with him 
on difficult or disputed points. These letters are interesting, 
not only in themselves, but doubly so in showing how, in the 
midst of great public cares, the statesman could turn aside to 
the exegesis of a Latin poem. The following will serve as 
specimens from his letters of this kind. 

Under date of January 5th, 1872, he writes: ''I do not 



A LATIN CRITIC. ^^, 

think 'monstra naiantia' of Book I, Ode iii, has reference to 
ships, but rather to marine monsters. Both the language and 
the context of the Ode leads me to these conclusions. 

'•In the third and fourth stanzas the poet is eulogizing the 
courage of that man, who first trusted himself to a ship and 
to the stormy elements. In the fifth stanza he discusses an- 
other feature of that man's courage, namely, that feature, 
which leads him to risk the various phases of death, that he 
might meet by shipwreck at sea. And these were : first, the 
sea monsters, of which the ancients (in addition to the natural 
dread that all men feel) had a superstitious dread, as being 
the inhabitants of the unknown deep ; second, the sea dashing 
around the treacherous rocks and reefs. Both these relate to 
shipwreck. There would be no immediate fear in beholding 
huge ships ; for, on the sea, they would be rather the hope of 
life than a ' gradum mortis.' This view, I find, is confirmed 
by nearly all the authorities I have consulted. 

"Lambin, in his notes, quotes a parallel passage from the 
Greek of Oppianus, where whales and sharks are monsters of 
the sea. 

"In the Delphin edition of the classics, this is the ordo : 
'• Quod mortis genus formidavit qui sine lacrymis aspexit pisces 
monstrosos finntcs .?' In his notes, the Delphin editor says : 
' Monstra natantia, cete grandia ct immania. Conf. Juvenal, 
Sat. xiv, 283, ' Oceani monstra.' 

" In the Polyglot Edition, to which I alluded in my letter, 
all the translations, so far as I am able to understand them, 
give this idea, except one ; and one translates ' natantia' by 
the word, which is equivalent to 'floating,' and which might 
be applied to a ship. 

" The German translation employs the word for swim- 
ming, which seems to me the more natural meaning of 'na- 
tantia.' " 

On January 27th, 1872, he wrote as follows : " Thanks for 
your kind letter of the 23d instant. I am glad to have you 
keep me in mind of Horace. I do not forget him, but my 

U 



-2QA THE LIFE OF PRESIDEN7 GARFIELD. 

very heavy work in the House keeps me from giving him as 
much time as I desire. 

" Tlie Ode to which you refer (B. IV, O. vii) is one of the 
sweetest that Horace ever wrote. It is the sad reflection of a 
man, who has no clear hope of life beyond the grave, who 
sees in the swift changes of the seasons and years only the 
certain approach of death, and who braces himself up against 
the sadness, which these reflections bring by the doctrines of 
the Stoic philosophy. In some of the older editions this motto 
is placed at the head of the Ode : ' Omnia mutantur tempore ; 
juctinde igiiur vivendum est. ' 

" I should translate the seventh and eighth verses thus: 
* The year admonishes, and the hour, which consumes the 
cherishing day admonishes you not to hope for immortality.' 

" Some commentators have supposed that ' JT^ora' was used 
figuratively for ^ Dea vicissituditiis.'' Others have supposed 
that it was a synonym for time in general. Orelli and the 
better commentators say it means an hour, considered as a 
part of a day> and which, Horace says is the destroyer of a 
day. Lambin paraphrases the passage thus : ^ Annus {inquit 
Hora), in quo magnce exisfunt varietafes et qui certo die rum 
numero aliquando claiidilur ac terminaiiir, metises, dies, hora 
monent nos ne immortalia speremus.^ 

"The day is called ^almum,' says Orelli, 'because the sun, 
which presides over the day, cherishes all things.' In this 
connection see Virg. .^n., v. 64." 

My acquaintance with the General, dates, as you may re- 
member, from November, 1868. At your own kind invita- 
tion, I spent two days with you at his house on Hiram Hill, 
and well do I remember those days, and the impression they 
made on me, then a young man just out of college. The 
kindliness of the man, and his mastery over literary, as well 
as political and social, topics, filled me with an admiration 
and esteem, that subsequent acquaintance has only served to 
intensify. He is evidently a man of great powers of acquisi- 
tion and retention, coupled with rapid assimilation of knowl- 



CLASSICAL READING. ^Qr 

edge. He seems to have gleaned in almost every field, and 
to be always ready to enrich almost any subject with strikingly 
original suggestions. I have heard him say, that the man, who 
succeeds best, is the man, who, other things being equal, 
knows best how to utilize the scraps of time, which all men 
find in their daily life, and which most men waste. Perhaps 
the application of this principle in his own life may help to 
account for his marvelous versatility. 

Since I left Hiram, I have had an occasional letter from 
him. After the exciting contest of 1S74, I wrote him a note 
of congratulation on his triumphant re-election in the face of 
the bitter calumnies, with which he was at that time assailed. 
His graceful response closed with these words: "I am rest- 
ing, and reading Goethe's biography, and letting the calm of 
his great life fall into my own." I count the date of my 
acquaintance with General Garfield an event in my life. 
Very truly yours, 

Isaac N. Demmon. 

President B. A. Hinsdale, Cleveland, Ohio. 

The second is from Garfield, and pleasantly 
verifies the first: 

Washington, D. C, December i6th, 1871. 

Dear Professor: Before I am wholly overwhelmed with 
the very arduous and long-continued work, which this winter's 
session will impose upon me, I will take the time to write you 
a long, and I hope not an uninteresting, letter on a subject, 
to which I have given some attention from time to time, dur- 
ing the last few years. 

Since I entered public life, I have constantly aimed to find 
a little time to keep alive the spirit of my classical studies, 
and to resist that constant tendency, which all public men 
feel, to grow rusty in literary studies, and particularly in the 
classical studies. I have thought it better to select some one 
line of classical reading, and, if possible, do a little work on 
26 



3o6 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



it each day. For this winter, I am determined to review such 
parts of the Odes of Horace, as I may be able to reach. And 
as preliminary to that work, I have begun by reading up the 
bibliography of Horace. 

The Congressional Library is very rich in materials for this 
study, and I am amazed to find how deep and universal has 
been the impress left on the cultivated mind of the world by 
Horace's writings. 

In a French volume before me, entitled ''Edition Poly- 
glotte," M. Monfalcon, Paris, 1834, in which the Latin text 
and translations into Spanish, Italian, French, English and 
German are given, I find a catalogue of the editions of Hor- 
ace, published each year, from the date of the invention of 
printing down to 1S33. This remarkable catalogue of editions 
fills seventy quarto columns of Monfalcon's book. Besides 
this Polyglot edition, there are lying on my table, for refer- 
ence, two thick volumes made up wholly of comments on 
Horace (the body of the text being wholly omitted), by Lam- 
bin, a great French scholar, who lived two hundred years ago; 
also, two thick volumes by Orelli, the Swiss scholar, who died 
in 1850; also, three volumes of the Delphin Horace, edited 
by Valpy, the English scholar. These form but a small part 
of the stores of Horatian literature, which our library con- 
tains ; but these facts refer rather to the bibliography of Hor- 
ace, and are aside from the particular point I have in view in 
this letter. 

I have observed, in looking over the works on Horace, that 
a line of thought has been pursued by scholars and antiqua- 
rians, quite analagous to that pursued by scientific men in 
forecasting — I might almost say discovering — facts by induc- 
tion from general principles. Let me illustrate this. You 
remember the familiar illustration of it in the case of Lever- 
rier, who found a perturbation in the movements of some 
of the planets of the solar system, and, after having estab- 
lished the character and extent of that perturbation, declared 
that there must be an unknown planet of a certain size in a 



CLASSICAL DISCUSSION. 



307 



\ 



certain quarter of the heavens, whose presence would account 
for the perturbation ; and finally, by pointing the telescope 
to that quarter of the heavens, the predicted planet was found. 

A recent fact may afford a still further instructive illustra- 
tion of the same principle. Two weeks ago to-day, Professor 
Agassiz, on the eve of departure for South America, on a 
voyage of scientific discovery, addressed a letter to Professor 
Peirce, of the United States Coast Survey, in which he pre- 
dicts, with great particularity, what classes of marine animals 
he expects to find in the deep sea-soundings of the southern 
hemisphere ; what disposition of bowlders, the character and 
direction of glacial groovings, he expects to find in the 
southern continent. The Professor has so fully committed 
himself, that the result of the expedition must be a great 
triumph or a great failure for him. 

Now, quite analogous to these researches in the field of 
science has been the progress, by which scholars have discov- 
ered the long-lost location of the country-residence of Horace. 
Its site, and almost its existence, were forgotten during the 
centuries of darkness, which the Middle Ages brought upon 
Europe ; and it was only after the revival of learning, that 
men began to inquire for the old shrines and homes of the 
ancient Greeks and Romans. For a long time the site of the 
country-home of Horace was merely a matter of conjecture, 
and scores of theories were advanced in regard to it. I have 
now before me the work, which was, I believe, the first 
thorough and elaborate attempt to app)y the scientific process 
to the discovery of the site of the villa of Horace. It is in 
three volumes, of about five hundred pages each, and was 
written at Rome in i766-'67, by the Abbe Bertrand Capmar- 
tin de Chaupy, a French ecclesiastic, who about that time spent 
several years in Rome, and subsequently, at the time of the 
French Revolution, fled to Italy, partly for safety and partly 
to gratify his love of classical study. 

I have run hastily over these volumes, and will give you a 
brief statement of the scope and character of the argument : 



3o8 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



The first volume lays down the method, by which we should 
proceed in finding the location of the Horatian villa. In fol- 
lowing out this method, he brings together all the references 
made to it, directly or indirectly, in the works of Horace, 
and many other similar references from many other eontem- 
porary authorities and authors of the next succeeding period. 
From these elements he sets forth, in general terms, the 
features, that any proposed site must possess in order to be 
trusted as the real place. 

In his second volume he applies the results of his first 
volume to all the localities, that have been proposed as the 
site, and reaches the conclusion, that none of them will stand 
the test. 

In the third volume he traces the history of the changes, 
that swept over the country in the neighborhood of Rome, 
the devastations and rebuildings, the decays and reconstruc- 
tions, of cities and villas, and finally directs all his tests to one 
point, which, he affirms a priori, must be the very location. 

This investigation leads him to the conclusion, that the 
country home of Horace was situated among the Sabine 
Mountains, a few miles above Tivoli, upon the little river 
Digence, between the mountains Lucretile and Ustica on one 
side, and the village of Mantella on the other, and not far 
from Varia, which was a little village on the Anio, and is now 
the hamlet of Vario. 

Such were the conclusions drawn by the Abbe from his 
elaborate investigation. Subsequent explorations have, I 
believe, in the main confirmed the correctness of his conclu- 
sions. 

In a London edition of Horace, of 1849, ^7 the Rev. 
Henry Hart Milman, there is printed a letter by G. Dennis, 
written, as its author believes, near the very spot where 
Horace wrote most of his odes. The letter is a most charming 
one, full of enthusiasm for the poet and his works, and gives 
a delightful description of the country and its surroundings. 

Did I not know that I lack the time aud you the patience, 



A CORDIAL FRIEND. ^OO 

I should be tempted to send the whole letter ; but when you 
visit us in Washington, as I hope you will do some time, you 
must not fail to read it. I hope I may not have distressed 
you with the length of this letter. 

My children are nearly recovered from soarlet fever. All 
the family are now well, and join me in kindest regards 
to Mrs, Demmon and yourself. 

Very truly yours, 

J. A, Garfield. 
Professor I. N. Demmon. 

Hiram, Portage County, Ohio. 
26* 



CHAPTER XXI. 

QUESTIONS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 

CONTEMPORANEOUSLY with his entry 
into Congress, Garfield began a severe 
course of study of political economy, go- 
ing home every evening to his modest lodgings, on 
Thirteenth Street, with an armful of books taken 
from the Congressional Library. His financial 
views were always sound, based on the firm foun- 
dation of honest money and unsullied national 
honor. His record on questions of political econ- 
omy is without a Haw. No man in Congress made 
a more consistent and unwavering fight against the 
paper-money delusions, that flourished during the 
decade after the war, and for specie-payments and 
the strict fulfillment of the nation's obligations to 
its creditors. His speeches became the financial 
gospel of the Republican party. 

We will quote some texts from this gospel. In 
the course of his strenuous fight against the repeal 
of the Resumption Act, General Garfield said: 

The men of 1S62 knew the dangers from sad experience in 
our history : and, like Ulysses, lashed themselves to the mast 
of public credit, when they embarked upon the stormy and 
boisterous sea of inflated paper money, that they might not be 
beguiled by the siren song, that would be sung to them, when 
they were afloat on the wild waves. 

(310) 



THE GREENBACK. 



II 



I 



But the times have changed. New men are on deck, men 
who have forgotten the old pledges, and now only twelve 
years have passed (for as late as 1865 this House, with but six 
dissenting votes, resolved again to stand by the old ways and 
bring the country back to sound money), only twelve years 
have passed, and what do we find ? We find a group of 
theorists and doctrinaires, who look upon the wisdom of the 
fathers as foolishness. We find some, who advocate what they 
call "absolute money," who declare that a piece of paper 
stamped a "dollar" is a dollar; that gold and silver are a 
part of the barbarism of the past, which ought to be forever 
abandoned. We hear them declaring, that resumption is a 
deluson and a snare. We hear them declaring, that the eras 
of prosperity are the eras of paper money. They point us to 
all times of inflation as periods of blessing to the people and 
prosperity to business; and they ask us no more to vex their 
ears with any allusion to the old standard — the money of the 
Constitution. Let the wild swarm of financial literature, that 
has sprung into life within the last twelve years, witness how 
widely and how far we have drifted. We have lost our old 
moorings, and have tlirown overboard our old compass; we 
sail by alien stars, looking not for the haven, but are afloat on 
a harborless sea. 

Suppose you undo the work, that Congress has attempted, 
to resume«specie payment, what will result? You will de- 
preciate the value of the greenback. Suppose it falls ten 
cents on the dollar? You will have destroyed ten per cent_ 
of the value of every deposit in the savings banks, ten per 
cent, of every life insurance policy and fire insurance policy, 
of every pension to the soldier, and of every day's wages of 
every laborer in the nation. The trouble with our greenback- 
dollar is this: It has two distinct functions, one a purchas- 
ing power, and the other a debt-paying power. As a debt- 
paying power, it is equal to one hundred cents; that is, to 
pay an old debt. A greenback dollar will, by law, discharge 
our hundred cents of debt. But no law can give it purchas- 



312 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



ing power in the general market of the world, unless it repre- 
sents a known standard of coin value. Now, what we want 
is, that these two qualities of our greenback-dollar shall be 
made equal, its debt-paying power and its general purchas- 
ing power. When these are equal, the problems of our cur- 
rency are solved, and not till then. Summing it all up in a 
word, the struggle now pending in this House is, on the one 
hand, to make the greenback better, and on the other, to 
make it worse. The Resumption Act is making it better every 
day. Repeal that act, and you make it indefinitely worse. 
In the name of every man who wants his own, when he has 
earned it, I demand, that we do not make the wages of the 
poor man shrivel in his hands, after he has earned them ; but 
that his money shall be made better and better, until the 
plow-holder's money shall be as good as the bondholder's 
money; until our standard is one, and there is no longer one 
money for the rich and another for the poor. 

Privately he wrote to Mr, Hinsdale: 

Washington, D. C, December 15th, 1867. 

I appreciate what you say in reference to the currency ques- 
tion. My convictions on some points of that subject are so 
clear that I have a very plain duty to do, from which I dare 
not flinch, were I coward enough to desire to. 

* * * It may be, that before very long the only es- 
cape out of the Butler-Pendleton bond-repudiation scheme on 
the one hand, and the contraction and inflation fight on the 
other, is by the shortest road to specie-payments, when the 
contractionists will be willing to let the inflationists have their 
fill of paper money, so long as they redeem it, and when the 
cry, that the soldier or his widow is paid in poorer money 
than the bondholder, would be ended. The early return to 
specie-paymeut would settle more difficult and dangerous 
questions than any one such act has done in history, so far as 
I know, I am glad to have the opportunity of standing up 



SOUXD MONEY. -. T -» 

against a rabble of men, who hasten to make weathercocks of 
themselves. 

Think of this: December 8th, 1865, the House passed the 
following resolution by ayes 144, noes 6: ^Resolved, That 
this House cordially concurs in the views of the Secretary of 
the Treasury in relation to the necessity of a contraction of 
the currency, with a view to as early resumption of specie- 
payments as the business interests of the country will permit, 
and we hereby pledge co-operation to this end as speedily as 
possible. " 

Ten years ago but thirty-two men were found to Vote 
against a bill to stop contraction altogether. There are near 
a hundred of the same men, who voted on the two measures. 

He never wavered on this issue. He voted to 
sustain the credit of the Government in all stages 
of the finance question. In 1870 he pressed a 
resolution upon Congress, pledging that body and 
the country to an honorable performance of its 
contracts; and in 1876, when the "fiat" rage was 
upon the people, and his party-friends in Ohio 
began to abandon him, he stood firm. To all pro- 
tests and appeals he had but one answer; "It is 
honorable ; it is just ; it is right. Standing here 
may defeat my nomination, may defeat my elec- 
tion ; but I would rather be beaten in right than 
succeed in wrong." In his speech at Massillon, 
Ohio, August 24th, 1878, he said of resumption: 

It is right, because the public faith demands it. It is as 
unpatriotic, as it is dishonest, to attempt to prevent it. The 
highest interests both of labor and capital demand it. 

Referring in the same speech to the substitu- 



^TA THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

tion of Greenbacks for National bank-notes., he 

said : 

Are we prepared, under a Government which our fathers 
meant should be a hard-money Government, to banish gold 
and silver from circulation in the country for all time to 
come, and do the business of the country upon nothing but 
irredeemable paper, depending for its volume upon the will 
and caprice of the moment, or upon the views of members 
of Congress seeking re-election or aspiring to higher places? 

When General Garfield entered Congress, he 
observed, that no one devoted himself to an ex- 
amination of the appropriations in detail. To 
vote intelligently upon them, he submitted them 
to a careful analysis. This analysis, which he 
yearly delivered to the House, was from the first 
well received. It came at length to be called 
" Garfield's budget-speech," and was always ac- 
cepted as an exposition of the nation's condition. 
By means of it and his committee-work, he largely 
reduced the expenditures of the Government, and 
thoroughly reformed the system of estimates and 
appropriations, providing for closer accountability 
on the part of those, who spend the public money, 
and for a clear knowledge on the part of those, 
who appropriate it. Illustrating this, he said on 
one occasion : 

We have frequently heard it remarked, since the session 
began, that we should make our expenditures come within our 
revenues, that we should " cut our garment according to our 
cloth." This theory may be correct, when applied to private 
affairs, but it is not applicable to the wants of nations. Our 



OPINIONS ON THE TARIFF. ^ , r 

JO 

national expenditures should be measured by the real necessi- 
ties and the proper needs of the Government. We should cut 
our garment so as to fit the person to be clothed. If he be a 
giant, we must provide cloth sufficient for a fitting garment. 

The Committee on Appropriations are seeking earnestly 
to reduce the expenditures of the Government, but they reject 
the doctrine, that they should at all hazards reduce the ex- 
penditures to the level of the revenues, however small those 
revenues may be. They have attempted rather to ascertain 
what are the real and vital necessities of the Government; to 
find what amount of money will suffice to meet all its honor- 
able obligations, to carry on all its necessary and essential 
functions, and to keep alive those public enterprises, which 
the country desires its Governmont to undertake and accom- 
plish. When the amount of expenses necessary to meet these 
objects is ascertained, that amount should be appropriated, 
and ways and means for procuring that amount should be 
provided. 

It is both just and proper, that we should state, 
that the protectionists of the country, who have kept 
watch over tariff-legislation during the past twenty 
years, and who have assisted in shaping and main- 
taining the present tariff, are perfectly satisfied 
with Garfield's votes and speeches on tariff. They 
and all other protectionists have, indeed, abundant 
reason for being thankful to him for valuable as- 
sistance rendered to the cause of home-industry, 
when it was in serious peril from free-trade at- 
tacks. His votes and speeches have been uniformly 
in favor of the protective policy. In his first tariff 
speech in Congress, in 1 866, he carefully defined his 
position on the question of protection, as follows : 



31 6 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



I hold, that a properly adjusted competition between home 
and foreign products is the best gauge to regulate international 
trade. Duties should be so high, that our 77ianufact2irers can 
fairly compete with the foreign product, but not so high as to 
enable them to drive out the foreign article, enjoy a monopoly 
of the trade, and regulate the price as they please. This is 
my doctrine of protection. 

In his next tariff-speech, dehvered in 1870 in 
defence of General Schenck's tariff-bill, which pro- 
voked a long and bitter controversy, General 
Garfield advised the protectionists of the House 
to assent to a moderate reduction of the war- 
duties, because they were higher than the pro- 
tection of our industries- demanded, and, therefore 
gave occasion for unfriendly criticism of the pro- 
tective policy. He said : 

After studying the whole subject, as carefully as I am able, 
I am firmly of the opinion, that the wisest thing, that the pro- 
tectionists in this House can do, is to unite in a moderate 
reduction of duties on imported articles. He is not a faithful 
representative, who merely votes for the highest rate proposed 
in order to show on the record, that he voted for the highest 
figure, and, therefore, is a sound protectionist. He is the 
wisest man, who sees the tides and currents of public opinion, 
and uses his best efforts to protect the industry of the people 
against sudden collapses and sudden changes. Now, if I do 
not misunderstand the signs of the times, unless we do this 
ourselves prudently and wisely, we shall before long be com- 
pelled to submit to a violent reduction, made rudely and 
without discrimination, which will shock if not shatter all our 
protected industries. 

The great want of industry is a stable policy ; and it is a 
significant comment on the character of our legislation, that 



VOTES ON THE TARIEF. ^,7 

Congress has become a terror to the business men of the 
country. This very day the great industries of the nation are 
standing still, half paralyzed at the uncertainty, which hangs 
over our proceedings here. A distinguished citizen of my 
own district has lately written me this significant sentence: 
"If the laws of God and nature were as vacillating and uncer- 
tain, as the laws of Congress in regard to the business of its 
people, the universe would soon fall into chaos." 

General Schenck's bill passed the House, June 
6th, 1870, General Garfield voting for it in com- 
pany with all the protectionists of that body. It 
passed the Senate during the same month, sup- 
ported by such leading protectionists as Howe, 
Scott, Morrill of Vermont, Sherman and Wilson. 
The bill reduced the duties on a long list of articles 
(pig iron, for instance, from nine dollars to seven 
dollars). It was a triumph of the protective policy, 
and a disastrous defeat of the free-traders and 
revenue-reformers, who had favored still lower 
duties. It embodied provisions, still retained in 
the existing tarriff, with which all protectionists are 
entirely satisfied. 

In 1872, two years after the passage of General 
Schenck's bill, a bill to reduce duties on imports 
and internal taxes, reported to the House of 
Representatives, by Mr. Dawes, the chairman of 
the Ways and Means Committee, was after dis- 
cussion passed by a large majority, favored by 
such prominent protectionists as Dawes, Frye, 
Foster, Palmer, Roberts, Wheeler, and Hoar. 

General Garfield voted for it. Judge Kelley and 
27 



3i8 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



sixty other protectionists voted againist it. It 
became a law, passing the Senate by a two-thirds 
vote, and supported by such well-known pro- 
tectionists as Ferry, Howe, the two Morrills, 
Morton, Sherman and Wilson. Protectionists, as 
will be seen, were not united upon the merits of 
this bill, which, among other provisions, reduced 
the duty on many iron and steel products ten 
per cent. : but no conflict of principle was involved 
in their differences — only a question of expediency. 
A recent writer on this subject, gives the follow- 
ing page from its history : 

In 1875, three years after the passage of the bill just re- 
ferred to, Mr. Dawes, still chairman of the Ways and Means 
Committee, reported a bill to further protect the sinking fund 
and to provide for the exigencies of the Government, which 
provided, among other things, for the restoration of the ten 
per cent., which had been taken from the duties on iron and 
steel by the Act of 1872. This bill passed the House by a 
close vote, General Garfield voting for it, as did nearly every 
protectionist in the House. The bill passed the Senate and 
became a law, the vote being very close — yeas, 30 ; nays, 29. 
The protectionists in the Senate were almost unanimously in 
favor of it. Mr. Sherman made a strong speech against it, 
and Mr. Scott and Mr. Frelinghuysen very ably supported it. 
Mr. Sherman voted against it. The passage of this bill gave 
great encouragement to our prostrated iron and steel in- 
dustries. 

The next tariff-measure, that came before Congress, was- 
the bill of Mr. Morrison, which was presented in the House 
in 1 8 76, but was so vigorously opposed, that it never reached 
the dignity of a square vote upon its merits. Two years after- 
wards Mr. Wood undertook the preparation of a tariff-bill, 



SPEECHES ON THE TARIFF. 



319 



which greatly reduced duties on most articles of foreign man- 
ufacture, and which he confidently hoped might become a 
law. This bill possessed more vitality than that of Mr. Mor- 
rison, and it was with great difficulty, that the friends of pro- 
tection were able to secure its defeat. On the 4th of June 
General Garfield delivered an elaborate speech against it 
in committee of the whole, in the course of which he said : 

"I would have the duty so adjusted, that every great Ameri- 
can industry can fairly live and make fair profits. The chief 
charge I make against this bill is, that it seeks to cripple the 
protective features of the law." 

He further said, in concluding his speech : 

"A bill so radical in its character, so dangerous to our busi- 
ness prosperity, would work infinite mischief at this time, 
when the country is just recovering from a long period of 
depression and getting again upon solid ground, just coming 
up out of the wild sea of panic and distress, which has tossed 
us so long. 

"Let it be remembered that twenty-two per cent, of all 
the laboring people of this country are artisans engaged in 
manufactures. Their culture has been fostered by our tariff- 
laws. It is their pursuits and the skill, which they have de- 
veloped, that produced the glory of our Centennial Exhibi- 
tion. To them the country owes the splendor of the position 
it holds before the world more than to any other equal num- 
ber of our citizens. If this bill becomes a law, it strikes 
down their occupation and throws into the keenest distress 
the brightest and best elements of our population." 

On the day following the delivery of General Garfield's 
speech, his suggestion to strike out the enacting clause was 
carried into effect upon motion of Mr. Conger ; and the bill 
waskilled — yeas, 134, nays, 121. The majority against the 
bill was only 13. 

During the recent session of Congress a vigorous effort 
was made to break down the tariff by piecemeal legislation. 

V 



- THE LIFE OF FRESIDEXT GARFIELD. 

* ' Divide and conquer ' ' was the motto of the free-traders. They 
were defeated in every effort to reduce duties, and in every 
instance they encountered General Garfield's opposition. 
Iron and steel manufacturers have good cause to remembei 
his vote in the Ways and Means Committee last March on 
the bill of Mr. Covert to reduce the duty on steel rails. Gen- 
eral Garfield voted with Judge Kelley aud Messrs. Conger, 
Frye, Felton, Gibson and Phelps against any reduction; and 
that was the end of Mr. Covert's bill — the vote being seven 
against six in favor of it. Had the bill prevailed, the entire 
line of duties on iron and steel and other manufactures would 
have been seriously endangered. 

The following reference to another question of 
pohtical economy is found in General Garfield's 
speech on the importance of the last census: 

Statistical science is indispensible to modern statesmanship. 
In legislation, as in physical science, it is beginning to be 
understood, that we can control terrestrial forces only by 
obeying their laws. The legislator must formulate in his 
statistics not only the national will, but also those great laws 
of social life revealed by statistics. He must study society 
rather than black-letter learning. He must learn the truth, 
that "society usually prepares the crime, and the criminal is 
only the instrument that completes it," that statesmanship 
consists rather in removmg causes than in punishing or evad- 
ing results. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



ARRAIGNING HIS ENEMIES. 



GENERAL GARFIELD constantly dealt 
his enemies in Congress sledge-hammer 
blows, not from malignity or revenge. His 
toncrue was always moved by what he considered 
the necessities of the situation. The tradition of 
his district, if no other cause had prompted, would 
have allied him with the North, when the Rebel- 
lion became a question of national interest. His 
vio-orous, clear mind needed no words of others 
to shape his course. Whenever the Union was 
concerned, he answered every call with electric 
readiness. 

One of his early speeches in Congress gave 
him high oratorical rank. Alexander Long of 
Ohio delivered in 1864 an exceedingly ultra Peace- 
Democratic speech, proposing that Congress 
should recoornize the Southern Confederacy. The 
speech attracted so much attention, that by com- 
mon consent it was left to the young member, so 
fresh from the batde-field, to reply. When Long 
took his seat, Garfield rose. His opening sen- 
tence thrilled his listeners. In a moment he was 
surrounded by a crowd of members from the re- 
moter seats. In the midst of great excitement 
27* * (321) 



-,2 2 ^-^^-^ Z/^^ OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

and wild applause from his side he poured forth 
an invective rarely surpassed in that body for 
power and elegance. We quote only the open- 
ing of this speech: 

Mr. Chairman : I am reminded by the occurrences of 
this afternoon of two characters in the War of the Revolu- 
tion, as compared with two others in the war of to-day. 

The first was Lord Fairfax, who dwelt near the Potomac, 
a few miles from us. When the great contest was opened be- 
tween the mother-country r^nd the colonies. Lord Fairfax, 
after a protracted struggle with his own heart decided that 
he must go with the mother-country. He gathered his man- 
tle about him and went over grandly and solemnly. 

There was another man, who cast in his lot with the 
struggling colonists and continued with them, till the war was 
well-nigh ended. In an hour of darkness, that just preceded 
the glory of morning, he hatched the treason to surrender for- 
ever all, that had been gained, to the enemies of his country. 
Benedict Arnold was that man. 

Fairfax and Arnold find their parallel in the struggle of 
to-day. 

When this war was begun many good men stood hesita- 
ting, and doubting what they ought to do. Robert E, Lee 
sat in his house across the river here doubting and delaying, 
and going off at last almost tearfully to join the army of his 
State. He reminds one in some respects of Lord Fairfax, the 
stately royalist of the Revolution. 

But now, when tens of thousands of brave souls have gone 
up to God under the shadow of the flag ; when thousands 
more, maimed and shattered in the contest, are sadly awaiting 
the deliverance of death ; now, when three years of terrific 
warfare have raged over us ; when our armies have pushed the 
rebellion backover mountains and rivers, and crowded it into 
narrow limits, until a wall of fire girds it; now, when the up- 



AGAINST TREASON. ^23 

lifted hand of a majestic people is about to hurl the bolts of 
its conquering power upon the rebellion, now in the quiet of 
this hall, hatched in the lowest depths of a similar dark trea- 
son, there rises a Benedict Arnold and proposes to surrender 
all, body and spirit, the nation and the flag, its genius and its 
honor, now and forever to the accursed traitors to our country. 
And that proposition comes — God forgive and pity my be- 
loved State — it comes from a citizen of the time-honored and 
loyal commonwealth of Ohio. 

I implore you, brethren of this House, to believe that 
not many births ever gave pangs to my Mother-state, such as 
she suffered, when that traitor was born ! I beg you not to 
believe, that on the soil of that State such another growth has 
ever deformed the face of nature, and darkened the light of 
God's day! 

The speech continued in the same strain, pol- 
ished and powerful. Its delivery " on the spur of 
the moment," in immediate reply to an elaborate 
effort, which had taken him, as well as the rest of 
the House, by surprise, won him a crowning 
credit. 

In 1876 he handled the same question, as it re- 
appeared in another and less objectionable form. 
In the course of a speech, " Can the Democratic 
Party be safely Intrusted with the Administration 
of the Government?" in an answer to Mr. Lar- 
mar, the Great Republican said: 

I share all that gentleman's aspirations for peace, for good 
government at the South — and I believe I can safely assure 
him, that the great majority of the nation shares the same 
aspirations. But he will allow me to say, that he has not 
fully stated the elements of the great problem to be solved by 



■j^. THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the Statesmanship of to-day. The actual field is much broader 
than the view he has taken. And before we can agree, that 
the remedy he proposes is an adequate one, we must take in 
the whole field, comprehend ail the conditions of the prob- 
lem, and then see, if his remedy is sufficient. The change he 
proposes is not like the ordinary change of a ministry in 
England, when the government is defeated on a tax- bill or 
some routine measure of legislation. He proposes to turn 
over the custody and management of the Government to a 
party which has persistently, and with the greatest bitterness, 
resisted all the great changes of the last fifteen years — 
changes, which were the necessary results of a vast revolution 
— a revolution in national policy, in social and political 
ideas ; a revolution, whose causes were not the work of a day 
nor a year, but of generations and centuries. 

******* 

The cause, that triumphs in the field, does not always 
triumph in history. And those, who carried the war for 
union and equal and universal freedom to a victorious issue, 
can never safely relax their vigilance, until the ideas, for 
which they fought, have become embodied in the enduring 
forms of individual and national life. 

Has this been done ? Not yet. I ask the gentleman in all 
plainness of speech, and yet in all kindness : Is he correct in 
his statement that the conquered party accept the results of 
the war? Even if they do, I remind the gentleman, that 
accept is not a very strong word, I go further, I ask him if 
the Democratic party have adopted the results of the war. Is 
it not asking too much of human nature to expect such un- 
paralleled changes to be not only accepted, but in so short a 
time adopted, by men of strong and independent opinions. 
This conflict of opinion was not merely one of sentimental 
feeling; it involved our whole political system; it gave rise 
to two radically different theories of the nature of our Gov- 
ernment : the North believing and holding, that we were a 
nation ; the South insisting, that we were only a confedera- 



ANSWER TO LAMAR. ,2£C 

tion of sovereign States, and insisting, that each State had the 
right, at its own discretion, to break the Union, and con- 
stantly threatening secession, when the full rights of slavery- 
were not acknowledged. Thus the defense and aggrandize- 
ment of slavery and the hatred of abolitionism became not 
only the central idea of the Democratic party, but its master 
ppssion — a passion intensified and inflamed by twenty-five 
years of fierce political contest, which had not only driven 
from its ranks all those, who preferred freedom to slavery, but 
had absorbed all the extreme pro-slavery elements of the fallen 
Whig party. Over against this was arrayed the Republican 
party, asserting the broad doctrines of nationality and loyalty, 
insisting that no State had a right to secede, that secession 
was treason, and demanding, that the institution of slavery 
should be restricted to the limits of the States where it already 
existed. But here and there many bolder and more radical 
thinkers declared, with Wendell Phillips, that there never could 
be union and peace, freedom and prosperity, until we were 
willing to see John Hancock under a black skin. Now, I ask 
the gentleman if he is quite sure, as a matter of fact, that the 
Democratic party, its southern as well as its northern wing, 
has followed his own illustrious and worthy example in the 
vast progress he has made since 1859? He assures us, that 
the transformation has been so complete, that the nation can 
safely trust all the most precious fruits of the war in the hands 
of that party, who stood with him in 1859? If that be true, 
I rejoice at it with all my heart ; but the gentleman must* par- 
don me if I ask him to assist my wavering faith by some 
evidence, some consoling proofs. When did the great trans- 
formation take place? Certainly not within two years after 
the delivery of the speech I have quoted; for, two years from 
that time the contest had risen much higher; it had risen to 
the point of open, terrible and determined war. Did the 
change come during the war? Oh, no ; for, in the four ter- 
rible years ending in 1865, every resource of courage and 
power, that the Southern States could muster was employed 



326 "^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ FRE^WENT GARFIELD. 

not only to save slavery, but to destroy the Union. So the 
transformation had not occurred in 1S65. Wlien did it occur? 

So the transformation had not come in the days of Ku- 
Klux, of 1871 and 1872. Had it come in 1873 ^'^^ ^'^^ be- 
ginning of 1874? Had it come in the State of Mississippi? 
Had it come in one-qulrter of the States lately in rebellion? 
Here is a report from an honorable committee of the House, 
signed by two gentlemen, who are still members, Mr. Conger 
and Mr. Hurlbut — a report made as late as December, 1874, 
in which there is disclosed, by innumerable witnesses, the 
proof that the white-line organization, an avowed military 
organization, formed within the Democratic party, had 
leagued themselves together to prevent the enjoyment of suf- 
frage and equal rights by the colored men of the South. 

Mr. Chairman, after the facts I have cited, am I not war- 
ranted in raising a grave doubt whether the transformation 
occurred at all, except in a {<t\\ patriotic and philosophic 
minds? Does the gentleman believe, that a northern mi- 
nority of the Democracy will control the administration? 
Impossible! But if they did, would it better the case? 

Let me put the question in another form. Suppose, gen- 
tlemen of the South, you had won the victory in the war ; 
that you had captured Washington, and Gettysburg, and 
Philadelphia, and New York; and we of the North, defeated 
and conquered, had lain prostrate at your feet. Do you be- 
lieve that by this time you would be ready and willing to in- 
trust to us — our Garrisons, our Phillipses, and our Wades, 
and the great array of those, who were the leaders of our 
thought — the fruits of your victory, the enforcement of your 
doctrinesof State sovereignty, and the work of extending the 
domain of slavery ? Do you think so ? And if not, will you 
not pardon us, when we tell you, that we are not quite ready 
to trust the precious results of the nation's victory in your 
hands? Let it be constantly borne in mind, that I am not 
debating a question of equal rights and privileges within the 



ANSWER TO LAMAR. ^27 

Union, but whether those, who so lately sought to destroy it, 
ouglit to be chosen to control its destiny for the next four 
years. 

It is now time to inquire as to the fitness of this Demo- 
cratic party to take controlof our great nation and its vast 
and important interests for the next four years. I put the 
question to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Lamar), what 
has the Democratic party done to merit that great trust? He 
tries to show in what respects it would not be dangerous. I ask 
him to show in what it would be safe. I affirm, and I believe 
I do not misrepresent the great Democratic party, that in the 
last sixteen years they have not advanced one great national 
idea, that is not to-day exploded and as dead as Julius Caesar, 
And if any Democrat here will rise and name a great national 
doctrine his party has advanced, within that time, that is now 
alive and believed in, I will yield to him. [A pause.] In 
default of an answer I will attempt to prove my negative. 
******* 

I walked across that Democratic campaign-ground as in a 
graveyard. Under my feet resound the hollow echoes of the 
dead. There lies slavery, a black marble column at the head 
of its grave, on which I read : " Died in the flames of the 
civil war ; loved in its life ; lamented in its death ; followed 
to its bier by its only mourner, the Democratic party ; but 
dead!" And here is a -double grave: "Sacred to the 
memory of squatter sovereignty." Died in the campaign of 
iS6o. On the reverse side: " Sacred to the memory of Dred 
Scott and the Breckinridge doctrine." Both dead at the 
hands of Abraham Lincoln I And here a monument of brim- 
stone: "Sacred to the memory of the rebellion; the war 
against it is a failure ; Tilden et Vallandighajn fecerunt, 
A. D, 1864." Dead on the field of battle ; shot to death by 
the million guns of the Republic. The doctrine of seces- 
sion ; of state sovereignty, dead ; expired in the flames of 
civil war, amid the blazing rafters of the Confederacy, except 
that the modern ^neas, fleeing out of the flames of that ruin, 



328 



THE LIFE Oi' PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



bears on his back another Anchises of State sovereignty, and 
brings it here in the person of the honorable gentleman from 
the Appomattox district of Virginia (Mr. Tucker). All else 
is dead. 

■if. -^ % •)(. if. ie -if 

Now, gentlemen, come with me for a moment into the 
camp of the Republican party and review its career. Our 
central doctrine in i860 was, that slavery should never extend 
itself over another foot of American soil. Is that doctrine 
dead ? It is folded away like a victorious banner ; its truth 
is alive for evermore on this continent. In 1864 we declared, 
that we would put down the rebellion and secession. And 
that doctrine lives, and will live, when the second centennial 
has arrived. Freedom — national, universal and perpetual — 
our great Constitutional Amendments, are they alive or dead? 
Alive, thank the God, that shields both liberty and the Union. 
And our national credit ! saved trom the assaults of Pendle- 
ton ; saved from the assaults of those who struck it later, 
rising higher and higher at home and abroad ; and only now 
in doubt lest its chief, its only, enemy, the Democracy, should 
triumph in November. 

General Garfield was firmly opposed to the un- 
limited coinage of silver. His position on this 
question of political economy is thus stated by 
Mr. Kirke : 

After the attempt to repeal the Resumption law came the 
Silver fight, with all its ferocity; and in a circle of nine 
States around (and including) Ohio, General Garfield was the 
only political leader on either side, who voted against flood- 
ing the country with depreciated silver, He was not opposed 
to silver; he was in favor of it; but he insisted, that silver 
coin should be equal in value with gold coin, so that every 
dollar should be at par before the law. 



AGAINST L'NLIMITED COINAGE. ^OQ 

On the 17th of May, 1879, when the bill to 
authorize the unlimited coinage of silver and to 
give the profit thereof to the owners of bullion 
was before the House, General Garfield made a 
vigorous spejech against It. We quote the follow- 
ing from it. 

The time is ripe for some wise and prudent arrangement 
among the nations to save silver from a disastrous break-down. 
Yet we, who during the past two years have coined far more 
silver dollars than we ever before coined since the foundation 
of the Government, ten times as many as we coined during 
half a century of our national life, are to-day ignoring and 
defying the enlightened, universal opinion of bi-metallism, 
and saying, that the United States, single-handed and alone, 
can enter the field and settle the mighty issue. We are justi- 
fying the old proverb; " Fools rush in where angel? fear to 
tread." It is sheer madness, Mr. Speaker. I once saw a 
dog on a great stack of hay, that had been floated out into 
the wild, overflowed stream of a river, with its stack-pen and 
foundations, still holding together but ready \.Ci be wrecked. 
For a little while the animal appeared to be perfectly happy. 
His hay-stack was there, and the pen around it, and beseemed 
to think the world bright and his happiness secure, while the 
sunshine fell softly on his head and hay. But by-and-by he 
began to discover, that the house and the barn, and their 
surroundijigs, were not all there, as they were when he went 
to sleep the night before ; and he began to see that he could 
not command all the prospect, and peacefully dominate the 
scene, as he had done before. So with this House. We as- 
sume to manage this mighty question, which has been launched 
on the Avild current, that sweeps over the whole world; and 
we bark from our legislative hay-stacks, as though we com 
manded the whole world. In the name of common sense and 
sanity, let us take some account of the flood ; let us under- 
28 



^-,Q THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Stand that a deluge means something, and try, if we can, to 
get our bearings, before we undertake to settle the affairs of 
all mankind by a vote of this House. To-day we are coining 
one-third of all the silver, that is being coined in the round 
world; China is coining another third, and all other nations 
are using the remaining one-third for subsidiary coin. And 
if we want to take rank with China, and part company with 
all of the civilized nations of the Western world, let us pass 
this bill, and then " bay the moon," as we float down the 
whirling channel to take our place among the silver mono- 
metallists of Asia. 

General Garfield was no less strenuous in his 
opposition to the Democratic idea of " State Sov- 
ereignty. " We quote the following from his 
speech on "The Revived Doctrine of State Rights," 
June 30th, 1S79: 

Mr. Chairman, the dogma of State Sovereignty, which has 
re-awakened to such vigorous life in this chamber, has borne 
such bitter fruits, and entailed such suffering upon our people, 
that it deserves more particular notice. It should be noticed 
that the word "Sovereignty" cannot be fitly applied to any 
government in this country. It is not found in our constitu- 
tion. It is a feudal word, born of the despotism of the mid- 
dle ages, and was unknown even in imperial Rome. A 
"Sovereign" is a person, a prince who has subjects, that owe 
him allegiance. There is no one paramount sovereign in the 
United States. There is no person here, who holds any title 
or authority whatever, except the official authority given him 
by law. Americans are not si4hjects, but citizens. Our only 
sovereign is the whole people. To talk about the "inherent 
sovereignty" of a corporation — an artificial person — is to talk 
nonsense ; and we ought to reform our habit of speech on that 
subject. 

But what do gentlemen mean when they tell us that a State 



AGAINST STATE SOVEREIGNTY 



ZZ"^ 



is sovereign? What does sovereignty mean, in its accepted 
use, but a political corporation liaving no superior? Is a 
State of this Union sucli a corporation? Let us test it by a 
few examples drawn from the Constitution. No State of this 
Union can make war or conclude a peace. Without the con- 
sent of Congress it cannot raise or support an army or a navy. 
It cannot make a treaty with a foreign power, nor enter into 
any agreement or compact with another State. It cannot levy 
imposts, nor duties on imports or exports. It cannot coin 
money. It cannot regulate commerce. It cannot authorize 
a single ship to go into commission anywhere on the high 
seas. If it should, that ship would be seized as a pirate, or 
confiscated by the laws of the United States. A State can- 
not emit bills of credit. It can enact no law, which makes 
anything but gold and silver a legal tender. It has no flag 
except the flag of the Union. And there are many other sub- 
jects, on which the States are forbidden by the Constitution 
to legislate. 

How much inherent sovereignty is left in a corporation, 
which is thus shorn of all these great attributes of sover- 
eignty? But this is not all. The Supreme Court of the 
United States may declare null and void any law, or any 
clause of the Constitation of a State, which happens to be in 
conflict with the Constitution and Laws of the United States. 
Again, the States appear as plaintiffs and defendants before 
the Supreme Court of the United States. They may sue 
each other; and, until the Eleventh Amendment was adopted, 
a citizen might sue a State. These "sovereigns" may all be 
summoned before their common superior to be judged. And 
yet they are endowed with supreme inherent sovereignty ! 

Again, the government of a State may be absolutely abol- 
ished by Congress, in case it is not republican in form. And 
finally, to cap the climax of this absurd pretension, every 
right possessed by one of these "sovereign" States, every in- 
herent sovereign right, except the single right to equal repre- 
sentation in the Senate, may be taken away, without its con- 



,,2 ^'-^^ Z//"^ OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

sent, by the vote of two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths 
of the States. But, in spite of all these disabilities, we hear 
them paraded as independent, sovereign States, the creators 
of the Union, and the dictators of its powers. How inhe- 
rently "sovereign " must be that State Avest of the Mississippi, 
which the nation bought and paid for with the public money, 
and permitted to come into the Union a half century after 
the Constitution was adopted ! And yet we are told that 
States are inherently sovereign and create the national gov- 
ernment. 

Half a century ago, this heresy threatened the stability of 
the nation. The eloquence of Webster and his compeers, 
and the patriotism and high courage of Andrew Jackson re- 
sisted, and for a time destroyed, its powers; but it continued 
to live as the evil genius, the incarnate devil, of America; 
and, in 1861, it was the fatal phantom that lured eleven mil- 
lions of our people into rebellion against their Government. 

The following bold passage occurs in his speech 
on " Countine the Electoral Vote : " 

When you tell me, that civil war is threatened by any 
party or State in this Republic, you have given me a supreme 
reason, why an American Congress should refuse, with unut- 
terable scorn, to listen to those who threaten, or do any act 
whatever under the coercion of threats by any power on 
earth. With all my soul, I despise your threat of civil war, 
come it from what quarter it may. Brave men, certainly a 
brave nation, will do nothing under such compulsion. We 
are intrusted with the work of obeying and defending the 
Constitution. I will not be deterred from obeying it, be- 
cause somebody threatens to destroy 'it. I dismiss all that 
class of motives as unworthy of Americans. 

What, then, are the grounds, on which we should consider 
a bill like this? It would be unbecoming in me or in any 
member of this Congress to oppose this bill on merely technical 



THE CIIIXESE QUESTION. ,,- 

nr trifling grounds. It should be opposed, if at all, for rea- 
sons so broad, so weighty, as to overcome all, that has been 
said in its favor, and all the advantages, which, I have here 
admitted, may follow from its passage. I do not wish to 
diminish the stature of my antagonist ; I do not wish to under- 
value the points of strength in a measure, before I question 
its propriety. It is not enough, that this bill will tide us over 
a present danger, however great. Let us for a moment forget 
Hayes and Tilden, Republicans and Democrats; let us forget 
our own epoch and our own generation ; and, entering a 
broader field, inquire, how this thing, which we are about to 
do, will affect the great future of our Republic; and, in what 
condition, if we pass this bill, we shall transmit our institu- 
tions to those, who shall come after us. The present good, 
which we shall achieve by it, may be very great ; yet if the 
evils, that will flow from it in the future, must be greater, it 
would be base in us to flinch from trouble by entailing remedi- 
less evils upon our children. 

President Garfield's position on the Chinese 
Question is not stated in any of his speeches, and is 
only lightly touched upon in the letter, in which 
he accepted the nomination to the Presidency, 
The Wheeling (West Virginia) Intelligencer of 
December 5th, 1877, printed an account of an 
interview with him, which more fully elaborates 
his views. Alluding to the idea quite strongly 
held by many writers, that the Chinese intend a 
conquest of all European countries, General Gar- 
field said : 

The Mongolian race is capable of great personal prowess. 
Being fatalists, they dare everything for the end they have in 
view. Their food is simple, easily supplied and easily trans- 
ported. Their endurance of fatigue is proverbial. Once 
28* 



, , . THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

organized and in motion, they could swarm into Russia a? 
irresistibly, as the locusts of Egypt, and upon the Pacific 
coast of this continent as numerous and destructive, as the 
grasshopper. Once started, where would they stop ? Civili- 
zation would retire before them, as from a plague. Look at 
the plague-spots in San Francisco to-day. Nobody lives in 
them but Chinese. Nobody else can live in them. I have 
seen in a space no greater than the length and height of this 
sleeping-car berth, in a Chinese tenement-quarter in vSan 
Francisco, the home of twelve Chinaman. In that space 
they actually lived — yes, actually lived — most of their time. 
There they crouched, all doubled up, and there they cooked, 
ate, slept, and, in a word, lived. They cooked with a little 
lamp a mess of stuff, that they import from China, which, like 
their rice food, is very cheap ; and a mere pittance, in the 
way of earnings on the street, will supply them food and 
clothes for an indefinite time. A few cents per day is more 
to them than a dollar to the commonest American laborer. 
Hence the lowest grade of poor-paid labor retires before them, 
as it would before a pestilence. 

This is not all. They have no assimilation whatever to 
Caucasian civilization. The negro assimilates with the Cau- 
casian. He wants all that we want. He adopts our civili- 
zation — professes our religion, works for our wages, and is a 
customer for everything, that civilization produces. Hence, 
using a figure of physiology, we can take him up in the cir- 
culation of the body politic and assimilate him — make a man 
and a brother of him, as the phrase goes; but not so in the 
least degree with the Chinaman. 

And this brings me to say, that one of the great questions, 
that now press upon Congress and the country for immediate 
attention and solution, is, what shall we do with reference to 
Chinese immigration? We have always refused to citizenize 
them. Shall we continue the treaty, under which they are 
immigrating to our shores ? And if continued, shall it not 
be subjected to essential modifications ? 



LETTERS FROM GARFIELD. s-,^ 

yj *J D 

- It will doubtless interest the reader to peruse a 
few of the letters, which General Garfield wrote 
during the long period of his Congressional 
service. 

(To Colonel A. F. Rockwell, U. S. A.) 

Hiram, Ohio, August 30th, 1869. 
It seems as though each year added more to the work, that 
falls to my share. This season I have the main weight of the 
Census Bill and the reports to carry, and the share of the 
Ohio campaign that falls to me, and, in addition to all this, 
I am running in debt and building a house in Washington. 
On looking over I found I had paid out over $5,000, since I 
first went to Congress, for rent alone ; and all this is a dead 
loss; so finding an old staff-officer (Major D. G. Svvaim), I 
negotiated enough to enable me to get a lot on the corner of 
Thirteenth and I Streets, north, opposite to Franklin Square, 
and I have got a house three-quarters done. It may be a 
losing business, but I hope I shall be able to sell it, when I am 
done with it, so as to save myself and the rent. 

{To Colonel Rockwell.^ 

Hiram, Ohio, August 6th, 1870. 

I have at last reached home in the green fields and pure air 
of the country, and for the first time in many months have a 
few days of comparative rest now before the opening of the 
fall campaign. 

My work during the last Congressional year has been 
harder than ever before. I gave eighty days' hard work last 
Summer and Fall to the census, and though I carried my bill 
successfully thvougli the House, it failed in the Senate. Then 
I spent forty days on the Gold Panic Investigation and Re- 
port, nearly all the Avork of which I did. Then I gave three 
•or four weeks' hard work to the Tariff Bill, and more than 

W 



33^ 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



that amount to the Currency Bill, which I had charge of, and 
which created a long and strong combat. Add to this all the 
usual outside work and two cases in the Supreme Court, one 
of which I argued and won, and you will see that it filled my 
days and many of my nights with about as close grubbing as 
I was capable of performing. On the whole I have done as 
much as I had any reason to hope I should. 

I was very much obliged for your discussion of the Indian 
Affairs. You can see how nearly impossible it is for a mem- 
ber of Congress, nearly a thousand miles away from the scene 
of Indian events, and knowing nothing but what he learns 
from vague and contradictory reports, to understand the real 
situation, and to provide wise and efficient means for man- 
aginga subject so difficult and so impossible to handle by gene- 
ral laws or regulations. I have from the first been in favor of 
the transfer of the Indian Bureau to the War Department; 
but the Piegan massacre and the personal quarrel, of which 
you speak, prevented the transfer, I twice got the bill 
through the House. I shall take the liberty to write to Secre- 
tary Cox and quote some passages from your letter. 

{^To Prof. B. A. Hinsdale.') 

Washington, May 20th, 1879. 

I have read your letter carefully. It is all interesting, 
and some of your reflections and suggestions are very valua- 
ble. I will notice your points in the order you state them. 

First. — You think my position in the first speech was 
greatly modified, if not abandoned, in the second, 
because, first, from the speech of March 29th, the 
ordinary reader would get the idea, that revolution comes 
in on the rider, and not in insisting upon the rider, 
when it could not command a two-thirds' vote ; second, that 
the latter point is not mentioned at all in my first speech, 
and no intimation is made, that the rider is ever legitimate. 
It is no doubt true, that the reader of my first speech, who 
had not paid special attention to the transactions of Con- 



LE TTERS FR OM GARFIELD. ^ ^ y 

gress during the preceding month, might fail to understand 
what was plain to my hearers, who had listened to the debate, 
in which the Democrats had repeatedly stated, that their rea- 
son for putting their independent legislation upon the ap- 
propriation bill as a rider, was, because they were certain it 
would be vetoed, if passed as an independent measure, and 
their only hope of success was to pass no appropriation bills 
without the riders. 

Several of these declarations are quoted in the President's 
veto of the Army Appropriation Bill. But I don't think 
that the ordinary reader can find anything in my first speech, 
which implies that it is revolutionary to put a rider on an 
appropriation bill. 

It is singular, that no member of Congress, who replied to 
me, attempted to show, by any quotation from my speech, 
that I had said so. 

On the contrary, I think the ordinary reader will under- 
stand, that I was discussing the refusal to vote supplies, if 
the ridered bill should be vetoed. 

Let me call your attention to the fact, that, after develop- 
ing, on pages 6, 7 and 8 of the first speech, the doctrine of 
the voluntary powers of the government, and that the free 
consent of the House, the Senate, and the President, or two- 
thirds of the House and Senate against the President's con- 
sent is the basis of all our laws, I say at the close of page 8 : 
"The programme announced two weeks ago was, that, if the 
Senate refused to consent to the demands of the House, the 
government should stop. And the proposition was then, and 
the programme is now, that, although there is not a Senate 
to be coerced, there is still a third independent branch i.i 
the legislative power of the government, whose consent is to 
be coerced at the peril of the destruction of this government. 
That is, if the President, in the discharge of his duty, shall 
exercise his plain constitutional right to refuse his consent to 
this proposed legislation. Congress will so use its voluntary 
powers as to destroy the government." 



oo 



g Tim LIFE OF'PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



This is the proposition which we confront, and we de- 
nounce as revohitionary. That is, the Democratic party in 
Congress, knowing it had not a two-thirds' majority, declared 
that, if the President refused his signature to their indepen- 
dent legislation, they would not vote supplie?, and would let 
the government perish of inanition. My replies to the ques- 
tions of Mr. Stevens, page ii, and Mr. Davis, page 14, are 
to the same effect, from the beginning to the end of the 
speech. I was discussing their proposition, that if they 
could not pass their measures of independent legislation in 
spite of the- President's veto — and they knew they could 
not — they would refuse to vote supplies. As Mr. Beck said : 
" Whether that course is right or wrong, it will be adhered 
to, no matter what happens to the appropriation bill." 

My theme was the proposed coercion of the President and 
the threat of stopping the government. 

I think it appears from the foregoing, that I did not call 
riders revolutionary. I said nothing about the legitimacy of 
riders, because that was not my theme. 

Second. — You \.\\\x\\, first, that I used the word revolution 
in a loose stump-speech sense, and not in the more serious 
sense, in which statesmen should employ it; ■ivsx^ second, you 
see nothing in the state of the public mind outside of Con- 
gress to indicate any general concurrence in my opinion, 
that revolution was threatened. I know the word is some- 
times loosely used in reference to changes of a quiet sort. 
We say, for example, there has been a revolution in the com- 
mon-school system. I do not think I am open to the charge 
of using it either in the stump-speech or in the milder sense 
just referred to. Certainly we had a revolution in 1861 ; but 
before we came to blows, the revolution was prepared by the 
attempt of the South to put in force the doctrine, that a 
State was sovereign, and had aright to secede from the Union. 
To put that doctrine in practice was to destroy the govern- 
ment; and dissolution was revolution. 

Now, the Democratic programme, as announced by Thur- 



LETTERS FROM GARFIELD. 



oj9 



man, Beck, and the rest, is, that whatever may be the con- 
sequence, they will not vote supplies, unless certain laws are 
repealed; and, not having the constitutional power to repeal 
those laws, they have thus far refused to vote supplies. Con- 
tinued persistence in that refusal destroys the government. I 
denounce their policy and purpose as threatened revolution. 
If thai, which inevitably destroys the government be not re- 
volution, in the largest and most dangerous sense of that 
word, I am wholly mistaken. 

You say you do not see signs of revolution in the country: 
nor do I. I saw it only in Congress. The title of my speech 
was "Revolution in Congress;" and I resisted it there, in 
order that it might not spread and become revolution through- 
out the whole Union. I do not now believe it will ripen into 
completed revolution, because, the purposes of the Demo- 
cracy having been disclosed, public opinion will break them 
down. I think my speech has done something toward break- 
ing them down by disclosing their purposes. The responses 
of the country, before I made my second speech, greatly re- 
lieved my apprehensions, and I felt less for the result April 
4th than I did March 29th, though the Democracy had not 
abandoned their scheme, nor have they done so yet. 

Third. — Your analysis of the elements, that make up the 
spirit of the Republican party, is certainly just in the main. 
It would not be possible for any party to be the chief actor 
in the events of the past twenty-five years without being in- 
fluenced by the spirit of the events themselves. Our recent 
history has developed a war-horse type of Republican, which 
I agree with you in despising as a permanent element; but I 
do not agree with you, that the present agitation is an out- 
come on the part of Republicans to get up a new cry; we do 
not bring this new issue. My analysis of the situation is this: 
Two Democratic leaders, Tilden and Thurman, are engaged 
in a desperate struggle for the next Presidency. Tilden hopes 
to be elected on the reminiscences of 1876. The Potter 
committee was appointed to infuse the belief, that Tilden had 



^ ,P, THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

been counted out by fraud. Tilden had been gaining ground 
as a candidate; and, if Thurman merely joined in this cry of 
fraud, he carried co lis to Tilden's cellar, and did not help 
himself. He therefore raised a new issue to rally the party 
around him. His cry was: "No military interference with 
elections ! " " Down with the bayonet at the polls ! " " Down 
with national interference with elections ! " The only way, 
that he and his associates could elevate this issue into promi- 
nence, was by threatening to stop the government, if his 
aggravations are not redressed. Not to have resi. ted this 
scheme would have been criminal on our part. It is true, 
that in resisting it the war-horse type of Republican has 
found new employment ; and many of the undesirable ele- 
ments of our party are delighted that this issue has been 
raised. This could not be otherwise ; but it is not just to 
say, that Republicans have raised the issue to feed their taste 
for gore. 

I note, with great interest, what you say about the recent 
history of my mind and the effect of stump-speaking upon my 
modes of thinking. I have no doubt, that it induces a loose- 
ness and superficiality of thought and an extravagance of 
expression ; but, on the other hand, it has some compensa- 
tions. A man, addressing a great and mixed audience com- 
posed of friends and enemies, is certainly impelled to be more 
careful in his statement of facts, than one who has his audience 
all to himself. He is much less liable to become epigram- 
matical and self-confident in his own views, than those, who 
have a friendly audience, where nobody opposes or puts ques- 
tions. I should be grieved indeed, if I felt that political 
speaking was weakening my love for study and reflection in 
other directions. I thank you for the suggestions, and shall 
keep watch of myself all the more in consequence of them. 
But it occurs to me I have made more speeches of the kind 
you approve within the last six months, than of the kind you 
disapprove. For example, the Henry speech, the speech on 
the Relation of the Government to Science, the Sugar Tariff 



LETTERS EROM GAREIELD. 



341 



speech, the speech on Mr. Schleicher, the Chicago speech, 
and the two articles in the North American Revieiv. 

{To Prof. Hinsdale.) 

Washington, July 7th, 1879. 
The session has been a most uncomfortable one ; but, on 
the whole, it has been valuable in the new class of topics it 
has brought into discussion. The Democrats completely- 
abandoned the main ground, which they at first took; and 
the most sensible among them do not hesitate to admit 
privately, that it was wholly untenable. Instead of withhold- 
ing ^45,000,000 of appropriations to compel the redress of 
grievances, they withheld only ^600,000, and they did not 
carry as many points of legislation, as were tendered them 
at the close of the last Congress. The course of justice can 
only be kept by the marshals advancing the necessary money, 
and running the risk of Congress paying them hereafter; 
but their powers and official authority are not impaired. 

PartyWise, the extra session has united the Republicans 
more than anything since 1868, and it bids fair to give us 
1880. 

29 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



A VISIT TO LAWNFIELD. 



IT is essential, that the reader should take a 
glance at General Garfield's home, and ob- 
tain knowledge of him as a private citizen. 
The domestic side of his life especially showed 
the nobility of his character. The author speaks 
from personal experience, having had the good 
fortune to make a visit at Lawnfield during the 
Summer of 1880. 

The station at which I stopped, was Mentor, 
twenty-six miles from Cleveland, on the Lake 
Shore Railroad. The General's house is about 
half-way between Mentor and Willoughby, two 
miles from the station. The drive to the house 
was over a flat country, which evidently had once 
been a part of the bottom of the lake. About a 
mile and a half west of the house is Joe Smith's 
first Mormon temple — a plain, but queer-looking, 
structure, which served its purpose for a while, but 
which Is now useless. It was but a speck in Che 
landscape of a country, that was attractive enough 
to enable me to realize, why the General desired 
to reside away from a bustling city. 

Mentor is not a regular town, but a thickly set- 
tled nelo-hborhood. There were houses at about 

(342) 




Gen. Garfields Home, Mentor, Ohio. 



MENTOR. o ,, c 

every hundred rods, with htde farms, orchards and 
gardens around them. " The General," as Gar- 
field was called, was the big man of the place, and 
owned one hundred and sixty acres of land. While 
driving along the Mentor road one day in 1877, 
and observing the quiet country-beauty of the 
place, he thought, that he would .like to live there. 
He bought one hundred and twenty acres, and 
afterwards added forty. There was a cottage on 
the ground, which made a very comfortable home 
for the family ; but when the general went to 
Washington, he ordered it to be enlarofed and re- 
modeled. 

The house at best is but a slight affair, when 
compared with a palatial residence on Fifth Ave- 
nue. But it was all-sufficient for the needs of the 
first Republican of his time. He always hastened 
to it, when Congress adjourned, obtaining there 
the rest so necessary for preparing himself for his 
duties in Washington. 

On arriving at Lawnfield, I went to a little ofifice 
just behind the house, though in view, and inquired 
for the general. 

" He is on the farm," replied one of the two 
secretaries, who were diligently writing ; " I will 
go and find him." 

While the secretary was absent, I examined the 

house and its surroundings. It was two and a 

half stories high, in an unfinished state. The walls 

were painted white, and relieved by a roof of 

29* 



346 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Turkish red. The lawn was liberally dotted with 
fruit trees, in the spreading branches of one of 
which a boy was busily picking cherries, and shar- 
ing them with several girls, who were under the 
tree. A double row of noble elms was in front 
of the house. Not far off I noticed gooseberry 
and currant bushes, and just back of the house, 
beyond the office, a commodious barn. 

The cottage, that stood upon the place when 
the general purchased it, proved altogether too 
small and barren of conveniences. A Cleveland 
architect was employed to remodel it. He de- 
cided, that the walls could be raised, and the build- 
ing enlarged without pulling it down. It was 
then rebuilt in accordance with suggestions made 
by General and Mrs. Garfield. The architect 
drew the plans, which Mrs. Garfield changed in 
several particulars. When the ideas of Mrs. 
Garfield had been put upon paper, the general 
indorsed them in the followincr direction to the 
builders : 

These plans must stand as above, unless otherwise ordered 
hereafter. If any part of them is impracticable, inform me 
soon and suggest change. 

J. A. Garfield. 

Washington, March 6th, 1880. 

The house stands upon a crest or ridge, 
and rhakes a very pleasant, comfortable-looking 
country-home. The architecture is composite, the 
Gothic type prevailing. There are two dormer- 



GARFIELD'S HOME. 



349 



windows — one in front, and one in the rear. A 
broad veranda extends across the front and a 
part of one side of the house. Lattice-work is 
arranged for traihno- vines. The dimensions are 
sixty feet front by fifty deep. The apartments are all 
capacious for a country-house; and the hallway is so 
wide that it attracts one's attention on entering. 
The first floor contains a hall with a large writ- 
ing-table, a sitting-room, parlor, dining-room, 
kitchen, wash-room and pantry. The last bears 
on the plan the generous indorsement, " plenty of 
shelves and drawers." Up-stairs in the rear of 
the second floor is a room, that on the plan is en- 
tided " snuggery for general." It is rather small, 
measuring only thirteen and a half by fourteen 
feet. It is filled with book-shelves, although it is 
not intended to usurp the place of the librar)-, 
which is a separate building outside, and to the 
north-east of the house. Two of the best apart 
ments in the eastern and front part of this floor 
are especially reserved for the general's mother. 
The front room has a large old-fashioned fire-place ; 
and the greatest pains have evidently been taken 
to make this room thoroughly comfortable. The 
rooms are finished in hard woods ; and every- 
thing about the place, though plain and unpre- 
tentious, gives it an appearance of quiet comfort. 
Very few of the timbers of the old house are visi- 
ble ; and none will be in sight, when the carpets 
are laid. The cost of the structure when finished 



-, -n THE LIl-E Of PRESIDENT GAREIELD. 

will be between 3,500 and 4,000 dollars. The 
barn, at the rear, furnishes accommodations for 
the two carriacre-horses, the single carriao^'e-horse 
and the heavy working-team. Of the one hun- 
dred and sixty acres comprising the farm, the 
yard, garden and orchard take up about twelve. 
Some seventy acres are under tillage ; and the 
rest are in pasture and woodland. 

About ten minutes slipped away, before the tall, 
broad-shouldered, full-chested, strongly-knitted 
form of Garfield came from between the build- 
ings. Two telegraph-men were with him, arrang- 
ing to put a private wire into his office. With that 
charming, unpretentious politeness, for which he 
is distinguished, he asked me to sit on the broad 
veranda, where, he said, I would find it much 
cooler and pleasanter than within doors. While 
we sat on the porch, I had a good opportunity of 
studying him. His head, as well as his frame, 
was massive, and his brain gigantic. He had 
light-brown hair, reddish-brown beard, large blue 
eyes and a full, round, fair face. His weight was, 
perhaps, two hundred and forty pounds. He 
dressed plainly, and preferred to wear a soft, 
slouch hat with a broad brim. 

Visitors, who came unannounced, often found 
him working in the hay-field with his boys, with 
his orenial face sheltered from the sun under a 
big chip hat, and his trousers tucked into a pair 
of cow-hide boots. He was a thorough country- 



OCCUPATIONS ON THE FARM. 



353 



man, by instinct. The smell of the good, brown 
earth, the lowing of the cattle, the perfume of the 
new-cut hay, and all the sights and sounds of 
farm-life were dear to him from early associa- 
tions. 

He excused himself for a moment, as the tele- 
graph-men needed some advice. As I sat there, 
I recalled some of the many things concerning the 
man, that had been recently told me. 

Seated on his veranda, I could easily appreciate 
what I had heard about his fondness for the coun- 
try. Essentially domestic in his tastes, perhaps 
he never appreciated the possession of a home 
quite as much as during the days of rest, after the 
bustle and excitement of the Chicago Convention. 

His habits, I was told, were methodical. Rising 
early, he frequently mounted his horse and went 
over the farm, directing the workmen and study- 
ing needed improvements. Quite as often, in- 
stead of mounting his horse, he walked about the 
place, and, if the inclination seized him, threw off 
his coat and held the plow in the furrow or raked 
the hay. It reminded him of old times, and was 
inviororatino; exercise. He had a oreat taste for 
improvements, and had made a study of farming 
ever since his early experience as a practical yeo- 
man. He farmed therefore, scientifically. He 
interested himself in the affairs of the village, and 
attended the Disciples' Church, where he some- 
times spoke. The liberal people of Mentor on 



354 



THE LIFE OF FRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



one occasion invited him to speak about the for- 
mation of a Murphy Temperance Society. Tliey 
were much pleased when in his earnest, impress- 
ive way he told them, that he was not a believer 
in total abstinence, while cautioning- the young 
against the evil of immoderate drinking, and earn- 
estly urging them to check and control their ap- 
petite. 

Garfield was fond of showing visitors over his 
farm, and especially of taking them down the lane 
back of the house to the top of the ridge, and ex- 
plaining, that the flat space below was once a por- 
tion of Lake Erie, before the blue waters receded 
and left the sand and wave-washed pebbles on the 
top of the ridge. 

He was a hard worker, and punctual in the per- 
formance of promises and duty. One infallible 
rule of his public life was, that every civil letter, 
on whatever subject and from whatever source, 
demanded an answer. His correspondence was, 
always, therefore, large and exacting. The very 
morning of my arrival, ninety letters and over 
two hundred papers were brought to the house, 
and before night there were as many more. He 
handled them, however, with ease, for he was 
possessed of what William Wirt entitled "the ge- 
nius of labor. " There are few men living, or who 
ever lived, who could endure more mental work 
than he. As a collegian, he often passed twenty 
hours without sleep; and there was not one of 



HIS GENIUS FOR LABOR. 



155 



the twenty, but had its stated task of work or re- 
creation. His work on the Fitz John Porter case 
involved immense labor; and the references and 
documents of that case in his library at Washing- 
ton are appalling to a mind of ordinary grasp. 
One large closet was required for the letters re- 
ceived and answers sent about this case, which, 
with the multitude of documents, were personally 
examined by him. 

Most of the letters, received on the morning of 
my visit, were letters of congratulation ; but there 
were also requests for offices in the event of his 
elecdon, from the delicately-hinted desire for a 
seat in the newcabinettoan openly demanded place 
as a country-postmaster. Others were recommen- 
dations of some of those, who made requests; and 
still others were full of political advice and sug- 



gestions. 



His work on the Fitz John Porter case recalled 
to my mind his giant-like capacity for mental labor. 
But few of his congressional speeches, in compari- 
son with the num.ber delivered, obtained a wide 
circulation in print. And yet, consider the title 
of those, that were circulated : " Free Commerce 
between the States ;" " National Bureau of Educa- 
tion ;" "The Public Debt and Specie Payments;" 
"Taxadon of United States Bonds;" "Ninth 
Census ;" " Public Expenditures and Civil Ser- 
vice ;" " The Tariff;" " Currency and the Banks ;" 
" The Currency Bill ;" " On the McGarrahan 



356 



THE LIFE OF FRESIDENT QARFIELD. 



Claim ;" " The Right to Originate Revenue Bills ;" 
" Public Expenditures ;" " National Aid to Educa- 
tion ;" "The Currency;" "Revenues and Expend- 
itures ;" " Currency and the Public Faith ;" " Ap- 
propriations ;" " Counting the Electoral Vote ;" 
" Repeal of the Resumption Law ;" " The New 
Scheme of American Finance;" "The Tariff;" 
" Suspension and Resumption of Specie Pay- 
ments ;" " Relation of the National Government 
to Science ;" " Sugar Tariff." What American 
statesman can show a better list of tides ? Does 
it not read like the table of contents of the 
speeches of Daniel Webster ? His words were 
the result of his deliberate and accurate foresight. 
For he saw, that, when reconstruction was a lact, 
American politics was entering upon a new era. 
No man could then serve the nation by rehearsing 
the old anti-slavery debates, by fighting over the 
batdes of the war on the floor of Congress, by 
unduly prolonging controversies, that were for- 
ever setded. He saw, that, what the country 
needed, was wise discussion and legislation on 
civil service, revenue, currency, banking, resump- 
tion, and the hundred other quesdons, that are 
dry, statistical, unpoetic and distasteful to any 
speaker, who has the God-given gift of eloquence. 
In a noble speech on the currency, delivered in 
1868, Garfield said: 

I am aware that financial subjects are dull and uninviting 
in comparison with those heroic themes, which have absorbed 



DIVERSITY OF LABOR. , c - 

the attention of Congress for the past five years. To turn 
from the consideration of armies and navies, victories and de- 
feats, to the array of figures, which exhibit the debt, expendi- 
ture, taxation and industry of the nation, requires no little 
courage and self-denial; but to these questions we must come; 
and to their solution Congress, political parties and all 
thoughtful citizens must give their best efforts for many years 
to come. 

One would not suppose that, in the midst of 
the busy Hfe incidental to such public duties, and 
later, to the political leadership of the House, 
General Garfield could have found much time to 
devote to society and literature. Yet he was for 
a long period an active and honored member of 
the Washington Literary Society — an organization 
embracing the most prominent men and women in 
music, art and literature. His love of literature, 
early manifested, received a great impulse at 
Williams College, and grew steadily, while he was 
professor of languages and president of Hiram 
Colleofe. His most congenial recreation was the 
study of ancient classical literature ; and it is 
related, that during a busy session he was found 
behind a big barricade of books, which proved to 
be different editions of Horace, and works relating 
to the poet. " I find I'm overworked, and need 
recreation," he said. " Now, my theor}- is, that the 
best way to rest the mind is not to let it lie idle, 
but to put it at something quite outside the ordi- 
nary line of employment. So, I am resting by 
learning all, that the Congressional Library can 



158 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



show about Horace, and the various editions and 
translations of his poems." An application of 
this theory to his every-day life ripened a scholar- 
ship rare among- public men. The record of the 
Congressional Library shows that he used more 
books than any other member of Congress. The 
number of volumes, taken from the library in 
1 879-80 and read and examined by him, has never 
been exceeded by any man, who ever used the 
library, except Charles Sumner, He read every- 
thing — histories, novels, newspapers, etc., and a 
wide range of miscellaneous matter. Outside of 
the ancient classics, Shakespeare was his favorite 
poet ; and Tennyson was oftener in his hand than 
any other song-writer of modern times. His 
novel reading was a peculiarly happy illustration 
of his character, having been confined to Thacke- 
ray, Scott, Dickens, Kingsley, Jane Austen and 
Honore de Balzac His books all bear his library 
motto: jHnter folia fructus." (Fruit amid the 
leaves.) At Mentor, he read and worked much 
the same as at Washington. What a reader these 
letters from his correspondence with Prof Hins- 
dale showed him to be ! 

AVashington, D. C, February 14th, 1S75. 

I don't remember, whether I have ever called your atten- 
tion to a book, which has given me a great deal of pleasure, 
and which I think is an admirable help to young people in 
laying the foundation of a knowledge of Shakespeare. You 
may be familiar with it ; Init I never saw it until this Winter. 



EXTENSIVE READING. ^i-g 

It i j Shakespeare, written in a condensed and attractive form 
by Charles and Mary Lamb, and published in Bohn's Library. 
It gives but eighteen pages to each pla), and puts the story in 
so plain a way, that a very young child can understand it. 
The volume contains sketches of about half of the plays. 
About twice a week I read one of these stories to the children, 
and even Mollie gets a pretty fair understanding of the story. 
Not only this, but they give older and much clearer notions 
of the plot of the play, than the reading of the whole play 
ordinarily gives. 

So far as individual work is concerned, I have done some- 
thing to keep alive my tastes and habits. For example, since 
I left you, I have made a somewhat thorough study of Goethe 
and his epoch, and have sought to build up in my mind a pic- 
ture of the state of literature and art in Europe at the period, 
when Goethe began to work, and the state when he died. I 
have grouped the various facts into order, have written them 
out, so as to preserve a memoir of the impression made upon 
my mind by the whole. The sketch covers nearly sixty pages 
of manuscript. I think some work of this kind, outside the 
track of one's every-day work, is necessary to keep up real 
growth. 

Washington, July 8th, 1875. 

I am taking advantage of this enforced leisure to do a good 
deal of reading. Since I was taken sick, I have read the fol- 
lowing: Sherman's two volumes; Leland's "English Gip- 
sies;" Goorge Borrow's "Gipsies of Spain;" Borrow's 
"Romany Rye;" Tennyson's "Mary;" seven volumes of 
Fronde's England; several plays of Shakespeare; and have 
made some progress in a new book, which I think you will be 
glad to see, "The Llistory of the English People," by Prof. 
Green, of Oxford, in one volume. 

Washington, October, 2 2d, 1877. 
Since receiving your postal card I have read Goldwin 
Smith's essay on the Decline of Party Government. To me 



36o 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



it is altogether a disappointing paper. Many of his facts and 
suggestions are interesting ; but his suggestions of substitution 
for party government are too vague to be of any value, while 
there are grave differences of opinion among men on ques- 
tions of vital importance, whether in Church or State, in so- 
cial life or in science. There will be parties based upon those 
conditions; and the thing most desired is not how to avoid 
the existence of parties, but how to keep them within proper 
bounds. 

Mentor, Ohio, November i6th, 1878. • 
I have read with great interest and satisfaction your little 
volume on the Christian Jewish Church. I know of no work, 
which contains within such small compass so complete and 
thorough a discussion of the subject. Your analysis of the 
early struggle between the Jewish and Greek Christians, and 
the peculiar influences of the Jewish and Greek mind upon 
the historical development of Christianity throws a strong and 
clear light upon many portions of the New Testament, and 
affords valuable assistance to the study of church history. The 
whole book is pervaded with the spirit of thorough and reve- 
rent scholarship, and you deserve, and doubtless will receive, 
the gratitude of a wide circle of readers. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE FAMILY CIRCLE. 



MY reflections were here Interrupted by 
the general, who came to say, that he 
would soon be at my service. Just then 
an old friend of his arrived, and wished to talk 
with him. About an hour after he returned and 
entered into conversation with me. I asked him 
about his sermons or relio^ious lectures, of which I 
knew nothing authentic. " I have no copies," he 
replied. " I did not write my discourses in full, but 
merely made headings or memoranda, trusting to 
memory and the inspiration of the occasion to fill 
them out properly. I have over a thousand of 
these briefs, but it would be quite as difficult to 
fill out one as to write a new discourse." He then 
brought a number of scrap-books, in which hehad 
preserved all his public speeches in the order of 
their deliver)^ He also had a most elaborate 
index to everything, which he had ever read. Let 
me illustrate his method of keeping an index. You 
read the following brilliant paragraph on coercion, 
which seems to be well worth rememberlns* : 



't> 



You levy taxes — coercion secures their collection. It fol- 
lows the shadow of the thief, and brings him to justice. It 
lays its iron hand on the murderer, tries him and hangs him. 

(361) 



362 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



It accompanies your diplomacy to foreign courts, and backs 
the declaration of the nation's rights by a pledge of the na- 
tion's strength. Eut when the life of the nation is imper- 
iled, we are told, that it has no coercive power against the 
parricide in its own bosom ! 

You enter it in your index thus : " Coercion — 
under the Constitution. Opinion of James A. 
Garfield — Speech on Treason in House of Repre- 
sentatives, April 8th, 1864. Vol. ) page ." 

This plan the general pursued with all the 
books, which he had, and the reader can imagine 
what an amount of information on any subject he 
could collect at a moment's notice. He ascribed 
to this system much of his success in extempore 
speaking, the like of which, for wealth of informa- 
tion and illustration, is not heard in either branch 
of Congress to-day, and has not been for many 
years. There was a common saying in the re- 
porters' gallery, that, when Garfield chose to 
*' cram" on any subject, there was not a man in 
Washinofton who could stand before the delufre of 
facts, with which he overwhelmed all opposition. 

In these books were many hundreds of pages, 
filled with scraps, annotations, incidents and wit- 
ticisms, gathered from authors and newspapers 
that represented the best thought in literature, 
ancient and modern, of almost the entire world. 
Besides these there were innumerable thoucrhts of 
his own about what he had read in the course of 
his prolonged studies, which he had expressed " in 



A CCUMULA TING FA CTS 



363 



black and white," while the " idea divine" was still 
living in his brain. " It is perfecdy astounding," said 
the general, " how much we are indebted to other 
people for our opinions. '■' ''' 

I noticed this early in life, but never saw the evil 
of it, undl I went to Congress. Committees, 
appointed to investigate particular subjects, would 
meet together; and no one would say much at 
first. After a while some one would get up and 
state his opinion positively, give his reasons for 
thinking so, and in nine cases out of ten that 
man's opinion would be adopted as the opinion of 
the committee. The other members either had 
not cared or did not care, to investigate the mat- 
ter, and rather than take the trouble to look up the 
facts, would accept this member's opinion as their 
own." This made Garfield a close student, and 
caused him to read extensively about matters, that 
affected Conorressional leofisladon. He held, that 
everybody should think for himself. His scrap- 
books offered abundant evidence, that he himself 
had followed this sound advice. They were ar- 
ranged in the nicest order; and throuMi them all 
I could follow the great debater's readings from 
their beginning. Thus, in the book dated 1859, I 
found the first of his annotations on financial sub- 
jects. These were at first mixed with more or 
less quotations from the classic poets. Afterwards 
they became more frequent, until finally they out- 
numbered all other topics. There were abundant 



364 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



citations from " Tooke's History of Prices," and 
" Sir Archibald Allison," that were so useful, when 
Garfield, in 1 8 79-80, followed Kelley into the his- 
tory of France and England, to the discomfiture 
of him and his soft-money friends. Reinforcing 
his scrap-books, he had a large case of pigeon- 
holes, with about fifty boxes, labeled " The Press," 
" French Spoiliation," *' Tariff," " Geneva Award," 
" General Politics," " State Politics," " Public Men," 
"Parliamentary Decisions," "Anecdotes," "Elec- 
toral Laws and Commission," etc. etc., and con- 
taining a constantly increasing number of the 
choicest references to the various special topics, 
drawn from every available source. 

One of the children interrupted us at this point. 
The general took the child, answered all its ques- 
tions, and tenderly sent it away with " There my 
darling, go now and play." Just then Mrs. Gar- 
field came to the head of the stairs, and the gen- 
eral called her in. After introducing her, putting 
his arm about her, he went to consult with her, as 
she requested, about some household affairs. 

Mrs. Garfield is tall and fine-looking, with a 
good, kind face, and the gentlest of manners. 
She has a slight, but well-knit form, and small fea- 
tures with a somewhat prominent forehead. Her 
black hair, crimped in front and done up in a 
modest coil, is slightly tinged with gray. Her 
black eyes, and her mouth, about which plays a 
sweet smile, are the most attractive features of 



MRS. GARFIELD. 



365 



her thoroughly expressive face. She is a quick 
observer, and an intelhgent Hstener, but very un- 
demonstrative. When the general was at Chicka- 
mauga, and everybody at Hiram was painfully 
anxious for the latest news from the field of bat- 
tle, she sat quietly and patiently in what is now 
Professor Hinsdale's library, controlling the in- 
most emotions of her heart. She impressed me 
as one who especially loves her home, her child- 
ren, and her husband. Mary Clemmer Ames, 
in the presidential campaign, paid her the follow- 
ingf tribute : 

She has "the philosophic mind" that Wordsworth sings 
of, and she has a self-poise, a strength of unswerving abso- 
lute rectitude. * * * Much of the time, that other wo- 
men give to distributing visiting cards in the frantic effort to 
make themselves " leaders of society," Mrs. Garfield spends 
in the alcoves of the Congressional Library, searching out 
books to carry home to study, while she nurses the children. 
You may be sure of one thing — the woman, who reads and 
studies while she rocks her babies, will not be left far behind 
by her husband in the march of actual growth. * * * j 
have followed with a tender heart this woman, the wife of a 
famous man — a woman whom nobody called a "leader." 
* * * She has moved on in the tranquil tenor of her un- 
obtrusive way, in a life of absolute devotion to her duty, 
never forgetting the demands of her position, or neglecting 
lier friends, yet making it her first charge to bless her home, 
to teach her children, to fit her boys for college, to be the 
equal friend, as well as the honored wife, of her husband. 
Gentle, patient, unobtrusive almost to timidity, keenly in- 
telligent, liberally educated, conscientiously devoted to 
everything good — this is the woman who will perpetuate the 



366 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



loving, consecrated life, that to-day abides in the White 
House, if as its mistress she enters it. 

She has borne the general six children. The 
first, a daughter, died in infancy. Two boys, 
Harry and James, aged eighteen and sixteen re- 




HARRY GARFIELD. 



spectlvely, were for a time students at St. Paul's 
School, Concord, N. H., under the charge of Rev. 
Dr. Coit. They entered in September, 1879, and 
quickly showed themselves manly and studious. 
At the close of the year, June 24th, 1880, Harry 
won the prize for declamation, inheriting talent 
from his father — the Webster of the West. The 



THE CHILDREN. 



367 



boys, with Don. Rockwell, the son of Col. Rock- 
well and their classmates at St. Paul's, entered 
Williams College very honorably in September, 
1 88 1, after seven months of faithful and untiring 
work under the tutorship of Dr. William H. 




JAMES GARFIELD. 

Hawkes. The third child, Mary, a rosy-cheeked, 
laughing-eyed girl of thirteen, is called " Mollie " 
by everybody. The next, nine years old, is Irvin 
McDowell, named In protest against the unwar- 
ranted abuse, that General McDowell, Garfield's 
intimate friend, received during and after the war. 

The youngest aged six. Is named Abram after his 

Y 



368 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



grandfather. He Is the boy, whom I noticed in 
the cherry-tree on my arrival. 

On his return the general said of his wife with 
a voice full of tenderness : 

I have been wonderfully blessed in the discretion of my 
Vrfife. She is one of the coolest and best-balanced women I 




MOLLIE GARFIELD. 



ever saw. She is unstampedable. There has not been one 
solitary instance of my public career, where I suffered in the 
smallest degree for any remark she ever made. It would have 
been perfectly natural for a woman often to say something 
that could be misinterpreted, but without any design, and 
with the intelligence and coolness of her character, she has 
never made the slightest mistake, that I ever heard of. With 




-"8 " ty Geo. E.Ferine N.Vort 
^er Photo, by J.F Ryder. 



10.2A [BoSAlSFQEL©. 



GARFIELD'S MOTHER. 



369 



the competition, that has been against me many times, suci 
discretion has been a real blessing. 

" Have you met mother ? " asked my host 

" No," I replied. 

" Oh, I want to introduce you then. You must 
know mother." He spoke of her so often and so 
tenderly, that I saw, that she was constantly in his 
thoughts. 

On beine Introduced I found her rather reti- 
cent. She seemed to be especially concerned 
about the children and the house-work. She is 
very small, almost diminutive beside her stalwart 
son. Although eighty years of age, she is quick in 
her movements, and in full possession of her mental 
faculties. She is thin, white-haired, rosy-cheeked, 
and has a prominent nose — like many another, 
who has adorned the pages of history. She is 
evidently a matter-of-fact, common-sense old lady. 
I could not but admire her, remembering her sacri- 
fices for her children, and that she laid the founda- 
tion of her youngest son's eminence, when she 
counseled him: "Remember your God and study 
books." She called him " my son," and talked 
briefly about the weather and their new place, and 
inquired about my family. I could not induce her 
to talk about politics. She did not seem much 
pleased with her son's nomination for the Presi- 
dency. Of course she was proud of him, and de- 
sired his success; but he was already a senator. 
I think that the old lady would have preferred to 
31* 



^ -TO THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

have him eo no hiQ-her. She knew that he would 
be away from their rural home most of the time, 
pressed by pubhc care and duty. No one can 
wonder at her feehngs; for Garfield made his 
home so much of a home. 

While I was talking with "Grandma" Garfield, 
the general's wife, clad in a plain calico-dress, 
came in with a work-basket, and sat down to darn 
the children's stockings. It soon began to rain, 
when to my surprise, the old lady went out bare- 
headed, and broucrht in a chair from the lawn. I 
remonstrated, desiring to assist her ; but she 
lauehed and said : " Never mind ! it won't hurt 
me." At the dinner-hour one of the Qreneral's 
secretaries said to me : "It is the general's orders, 
that everybody shall come. He would not like it, 
if any one went away hungry." I sat next to 
Mrs. Garfield, and found her a ready and charm- 
ing conversationalist, easy, modest, gentle, and at- 
tentive in her manner. The children had a sepa- 
rate table near her, and constantly interrupted her 
conversation. She tried to quiet them ; but they 
were so full of life and spirits, that they could not 
be still. Turning to me, she said : 

"What would you do with such a lot?" 
" Let them alone, and bless God for them." 
"Ah, you have children," she continued ; and, 
when I answered in the affirmative, she made 
many inquiries about them. 

After dinner I went with the general to his 



SOCIAL CONVERSE. ^yj 

office, where, producing a handful of cigars and 
lighting one, he talked freely of many things. I 
asked him about his early life ; and he spoke 
modestly and earnestly of his struggles with pov- 
erty. The sea he mentioned enthusiastically, as 
the memory of his first fancies came over him. 
" But even now, at times, the old feeling (the long- 
ing for the sea) comes back ; " and walking across 
the room, he turned and said, with a flashing eye : 
" I tell you, I would rather now command a fleet 
in a great naval battle than do anything else on 
this earth. The sight of a ship often fills me with 
a strong fascination ; and when upon the water and 
my fellow-landsmen are in the agonies of sea- 
sickness, I am as tranquil as when walking the 
land in the serenest weather." 

Soon afterwards he said musingly : 

"Tell me, now, do you think we can raise men 
for high positions ? There are my boys. I am 
educating them carefully, but I can't tell, if they 
will ever be heard of. No doubt you will do the 
same with your boys — but will they rise in the 
world ? Won't it happen, that some poor and 
obscure little fellow, who has to scratch for every 
inch, will run ahead of them and come to the front, 
while they will pass away unknown to fame?" 

"That is nearly always the case." 

"So it is; and it makes me wonder if tender 
rearing of boys, and giving them an elaborate 
education, is so much of a benefit to them, after all." 



-^T-? TFIE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

0/ - 

One of his boys came in at the moment, and 
said, that the workmen, who were building a fence 
about the yard, wished to see him. He put on 
his hat, and, giving me his scrap-books and asking 
me to amuse myself by looking them over until 
his return, left the room. He stayed so long, 
that I went down into the hall to smoke. Going 
to the door, I saw the general himself helping the 
workmen with the palings and posts. When he 
saw me,- he remembered, that he had left me wait- 
ing, and at once came up to excuse himself: " You 
see we have a new place here, and I am trying to 
get it fixed up. I came here, expecting to spend a 
quiet vacation ; but, when the nominadon at 
Chicago dropped on me, it found us all upside 
down. So many people are coming constantly, I 
want to get it in order, and am pushing it all I can 
by superintending the work personally." He ex- 
pressed great willingness to attend to me. I told 
him, however, that I had already taken quite 
enough of his time. He decided to go up-stairs 
and write ; and I went with him to get my hat. 
He pointed to a sheet of paper lying on his desk, 
which, I saw from the different headings and divi- 
sions, was the outline of his letter of acceptance. 

"A tough job," I ventured. 

" Yes, rather a tough job," he replied, laughing^, 
as he took leave of me at the door. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



TWO PEN PORTRAITS. 



G 



EORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND drew 
■^ this picture of General Garfield in the 
Cinciniiati Eiiqtiirer : 

The writer has known General Garfield pretty well for 
thirteen years. He is a large, well-fed, hale, ruddy, brown- 
bearded man, weighing about two hundred and twenty pounds, 
with Ohio German colors, blue eyes, military face, erect 
figure and shoulders, large back and thighs, and broad chest, 
and evidently bred in the country on a farm. His large 
mouth is full of strong teeth ; his nose, chin and brows are 
strongly pronounced. A large brain, with room for play of 
thought and long application, rises high above his clear, dis- 
cerning, enjoying eye. He sometimes suggests a country 
Samson — strong beyond his knowledge, but unguarded as a 
school-boy. He pays little attention to the affectation by 
which some men manage public opinion, and has one kind 
of behavior for all callers, which is the most natural behavior 
at hand. 

There is an entire absence of nonchalance or worldliness 
in his natnre. He is never indifferent, never vindictive. A 
base action of ingratitude or cruelty may make him sad, but 
does not provoke retaliation, or alter that faith in men or 
providence, which is a part of his sound stomach and athletic 
head. Garfield is as simple as a child ; to the serpent's wis- 
dom he is a stranger. Having no use or aptitude with the 
weapons of courser natures, he often avoids mere disputes ; 

373) 



o- i THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

J/4 

does not go to the public resorts, where men are familiar or 
vulgar ; and the walk from his home in Washington to the 
Capitol, and an occasional dinner out, comprise his life. 
The word public servant especially applies to him. He has 
been the drudge of his State constituents, the public, the 
public societies and the moral societies of his party and coun- 
try, since 1863. Aptitude for public debate and public 
affairs are associated with a military nature in him. He is on 
a broad scale a school-master of the range of Gladstone, of 
Agassiz, of Gallatin. 

With as honest a heart as ever beat, above the competitors 
of sordid ambition. General Garfield has yet so little of the 
worldly wise in him, that he is poor and yet has been accused 
of dishonesty. The people of his dibtrict, who are quick to 
punish public venality or defection, heard him in his defense 
in 1873, ^^^ ^spt ^'^""^ i"^ Congress and held up his hand; 
and hence he is, by their unwavering support for twenty-five 
years, candidate for president and a national character. The 
average American, pursuing money all day long, is now pre- 
sented to a man, who has invariably put the business of others 
above his own, and worked for that alleged nondescript — the 
public gratitude — all his life. But he has not labored without 
reward. The great nomination came to-day to as pure and 
loving a man, as ever wished well of anybody and put his 
shoulder to his neighbor's wheel. Garfield's big, boyish heart 
is pained to-night with the weight of his obligation, affection 
and responsibility. To-day, as hundreds of telegrams come 
from everywhere, saying kind, strong things to him — such 
messages as only Americans, in their rapid, good impulses, 
pour upon a lucky friend — he was with two volunteer clerks 
in a room, opening and reading, when suddenly his two beys 
sent him one— little fellows at school; and, as he read it, he 
broke down, and tried to talk ; but his voice choked, and he 
could not see for tears. The clerks began to cry too, and 
people, to whom they afterward told it. This sense of real 



SKETCHES OF GARFIELD. ^^e 

great-heart will be new to the country, and will grow if he 
gets the presidency. 

He is the ablest public speaker in the country, and the 
most serious and instructive man on the stump; his instincts, 
liberal and right; his courtesy, noticeable in our politics; 
his aims, ingenuous; and his piety comes by nature. He 
leads a farmer's life, all the recess of Congress, working 
like a field-hand, and restoring his mind by resting it. 
If elected he will give a tone of culture and intelli- 
gence to the executive office it has never yet had, while 
he has no pedantry in his composition, and no conceit 
whatever. 

A more elaborate picture of him was made by 
President Hinsdale of Hiram College: 

His power of logical analysis and classification is very great; 
of rhetorical exposition hardly surpassed. He excels in the 
patient accumulation of facts, and in striking generalizations. 
As a student, he loves to roam in every field of activity. He 
delights in poetry and other works of the imagination ; loves 
the abstruse things of philosophy ; takes keen interest in 
scientific research ; gathers into his store-house the facts of 
history and politics, and throws over it all the life and 
warmth of his own originality. 

His moral character is the fit crown to his physical and in- 
tellectual nature. No man has a kinder heart or a purer mind. 
His generosity of nature is unstinted ; all his life, public and 
private, is marked by great unselfishness. For the most part, 
he has neglected material acquisition ; but his means, as well 
as his time and talents, are at the call of those, who need them. 
I fearlessly say, that the nearer men have come to General 
Garfield, the greater has been their confidence. I may say, 
that he has inspired unusual respect and faith in all large- 
minded and generous men without regard to politics. 



176 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



lam far from indorsing all of General Garfield's public 
acts. Those, who know me, will hardly charge me with 
being a fulsome eulogist. He has said and done some things, 
that I have been sorry to have him say and do. He has failed 
to say and do some others, that I have had much at heart. But 
this I see : He has served the public with conspicuous ability 
and a single eye. He has moved all the time in the right di- 
rection. He has striven to make the public service clean and 
honorable ; to make the government one of statesmen and 
patriots, not of demagogues and place-men ; and in every 
way to dignify and ennoble the republic. 

A newspaper man from a distant city asked me the other 
day : " How do you explain the common lack of confidence 
in Mr. Garfield's courage?" I said : "Who doubts his cour- 
age?" He answered, that he had heard in Washington and 
in other places, that he lacked backbone. A few questions 
revealed, that those, who held this opinion, thought that he 
did not denounce " the Solid South " with sufficient severity, 
and was not properly active in stirring up the brigadiers. If 
I may parody Madame Roland, "O courage, what folly is 
committed in thy name ! " I have known a minister of the 
Gospel to be called a coward, because he could recognize 
the worth of those, who did not worship in his conventicle. 
Similarly, eager partisans charge with cowardice the man, 
who, loyal to his own convictions of truth and duty, dares to 
think and act for himself. In both cases what is called cow- 
ardice is the genuine moral courage. To go with the stream 
— to bless with your sect or to hurrah with your party — is 
slight proof of courage ; but to stand out by yourself in moral 
isolation, to bear the jibes of those, whom you call your 
brethren, is a very high proof of character. Such a man is 
General Garfield. He has uttered many noble words; but 
none nobler than these, spoken in the Ohio Senate Chamber 
just after his late election : 

" During the twenty years that I have been in public (al- 
most eighteen of it in the Congress of the United States), I 



SEL F-APPR OB Am ON. 



\11 



have tried to do one thing. Whether I was mistaken or other- 
wise, it has been the phan of my life to follow my convictions 
at whatever personal cost to myself. I have represented for 
many years a district in Congress, whose approbation I greatly 
desired : but, though it may seem perhaps a little egotistical 
to say it, I yet desired still more the approbation of one per- 
son, and his name was Garfiaid. He is the only man, that I 
am compelled to sleep with, and eat with, and live with, and 
die with ; and, if I c ^uld not have his approbation, I should 
have bad companionship." 



32 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



PREPARING FOR BATTLE. 




^^HE National Convention of the Republican 
Part)\ that nominated James A. Garfield 
for the Presidency, was one of the most 
important political conventions ever held In this 
country. The unit rule, the third-term issue, dis- 
trict representation, and the still more vital Issue 
of party managers opposing the will of those, who 
placed them in power — questions, which were 
never before so bitterly contested — make up a 
total of Interest, never equaled in the history of 
the Party. A brief account of this Convention Is, 
therefore, valuable, aside from the fact, that it most 
happily illustrates the peculiar fortune of General 
Garfield, whose Iouq- succession of honors souQ^ht 
him openly. 

The Convention assembled in the Exposition 
Building, at Chicago, June 2d, 18S0. The great 
men of the party were all there. The three great 
leaders of a most formidable political alliance were 
Senators Conkllno-, Loean, and Cameron. Sena- 
tor Cameron was the undisputed master of the 
Republican organization of Pennsylvania; Senator 
Conkling had almost as firm a hold upon that of 
New York ; and Senator Logan, though not so 

U78j 



CANDIDATES FOR THE ERESIDEAXY. 



79 



absolute a monarch of Illinois, held far more 
power, than any one imagined. Working together 
for a common end, to serve their ambition for 
political power, they seemed sure of victory. 

Ulysses S. Grant, who had already twice been Pre- 
sident, the Intimate friend of these three, was their 
choice for the Presidency ; and they recognized no 
other law. The higher law of the nation's will did 
not control them. With delegates of their choice 
they went to Chicago to force Grant's candidacy. 
Arrayed against them were the friends of James 
G. Blaine, John Sherman, Elihu B. Washburne, 
Senator Windom, Senator Edmunds, and a num- 
ber of other gentlemen, who were considered suit- 
able for the Presidency. 

By Monday preceding the Wednesday, when the 
Convention assembled, the battle had opened in 
earnest. Those, who had witnessed every Con- 
vention of the Republican party, say, that they 
never had seen such a seething mass of political 
wrano-lers, as gathered in and around the hotels 
of Chicago. The whole battle seemed to be one 
of mean ambition, or meaner cupidity ; and can- 
didates were favored or opposed, as a rule, by 
those, who hoped to profit by their efforts. 

The first effort of the and-Grant men was to 
break down the unit rule. A secret meeting of 
the National Committee was called. W. E. 
Chandler (N. H.) immediately offered the follow- 
ins: resolutions : 



38o 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Resolved, That this committee approves and ratifies the 
call for the approaching Republican National Convention, 
which was issued by its chairman and secretary, and which 
invites two delegates from each Congressional District, four 
delegates-at-large from each State, two from each Territory 
and two from the District of Columbia, to compose the con- 
vention. 

Resolved, That this committee recognizes the right of each 
delegate in a Republican National Convention freely to cast, 
and to have counted, his individual vote therein, according 
to his own sentiments, and, if he so decides, against any 
unit-rule or other instructions, passed by a State Convention, 
which right was conceded without dissent, and was exercised 
in the conventions of i860 and 1868, and was, after full 
debate, affirmed by the convention of 1876, and has thus 
become a part of the law of Republican Conventions, and 
until reversed by a convention itself, must remain a govern- 
ing principle. 

The first resolution was adopted unamimously. 
Cameron ruled the second out of order, and re- 
fused to entertain an appeal from his decision. 
Unfortunately for him, the majority of the com- 
mittee was opposed to him. A committee of six 
was appointed to nominate a temporary chairman ; 
and the Committee adjourned for a recess. When 
the Committee re-assembled, they had determined 
to deprive Cameron of his power, or exact from 
him a promise. This plan was, however, aban- 
doned; and Cameron refused to give any promise, 
that he would not enforce the rule. Having chosen 
George F. Hoar (Mass.) temporary chairman, the 
Committee adjourned at midnight. The excite- 



DELEGA TIONS IN RE VOL T. 



381 



ment over these proceedings was intense; and all 
night long heated partisans discussed Cameron's 
extraordinary ruling, as chairman of the National 
Committee. Twenty-two of the New Yerk dele- 
gates made haste to write and sign the following 
paper: 

The undersigned, delegates to the Republican National 
Convention, representing our several Congressional districts 
in the State of New York, desiring above all, the success of 
the Republican party at the approaching election, and realiz- 
ing the hazard attending an injudicious nominatiou, declare 
our purpose to resist the nomination of General U. S. 
Grant by all honorable means. We are sincere in the con- 
viction, that, in New York at least, his nomination would en- 
sure defeat. We have a great battle to fight, and victory is 
within our reach ; but we earnestly protest against entering 
the contest with a nomination, which we regard as unwise and 
perilous. 

The early morning was signalized by an open 
revolt in the Pennsylvania delegation, the cer- 
tainty of which had been asserted by the anti-Grant 
men, and denied by their opponents. Their protest 
was similar to that of the New York delegation. 

Conkling, Cameron, Logan and their adherents 
had now reached a deadlock with the opposition. 
An attempt at relief was made by General Chester 
A. Arthur and Gorham (Cal.), who, in behalf of the 
Grant men, submitted the following proposition, 
which was accepted late in the afternoon : 

"That Senator Hoar should be accepted as 
temporary chairman of the convention, and that 



382 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



no attempt should be made to enforce the unit- 
rule, or have a test vote in the convention, until 
the committee on credentials had reported, when 
the unit-rule question should be decided by the 
Convention in its own way." 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



THE BATTLE BEGUN. 



ON Wednesday, June 2d, the Convention 
met ; and the hours before noon were de- 
voted to a grand struggle for tickets. Just 
before noon there were not a thousand people in 
Exposition Hall ; but the crowds soon poured into 
the building, and scattered to their places. An 
hour later more than ten thousand were within 
the building, massed in every inch of room. One 
who was there, thus describes the assembling of 
the Convention : 

" The Alabama delegation was first to file in as 
a body ; and its two rows of President-makers 
nestled down in front of the stage, displaying 
every shade of complexion, from the pure white 
to the o-enuine African. Arkansas filed in close 

o 

behind Alabama, with the familiar face of ex-Sen- 
ator Dorsey at the head. Meantime the places 
allotted to the various States were being rapidly 
filled up. ■■^" '=■' ''' The dignitaries, who 
had been assigned to the seats for distingfuished 
guests, began to swarm in ; and Frye of Maine, 
and Chandler of New Hampshire, ' buzzed' them 
as they gathered in little knots to discuss the situ- 
ation. General Beaver, chairman of the Penn- 

z . (383) 



384 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



sylvania delegation, swung- himself along- the side 
aisle on his crutches, and sat down at the post of 
honor for his State, with Quay close by his side ; 
and Cessna flitted hither and thither, as if uncer- 
tain that anything would be well done, unless he 
gave it a helping hand. McManes dropped in 
late, a little paled by illness, but with all his 
Scotch-Irish doofo-edness written in his face. 
Jewell and Creswell, both of the Grant Cabinet, 
came in about the same time. The tall, sturdy 
form of ' Long John' Wentworth towered over all 
as he joined his delegation. 

'• Just when the building was pretty nearly filled 
up, there was a simultaneous huzza throughout 
the hall ; and it speedily broke out in a hearty ap- 
plause. The tall and now silvered plume of 
Conkling was visible in the aisle ; and he strode 
down to his place at the head of his delegation 
with the majesty of an emperor. He recognized 
the compliment by a modest bow, without lifting 
his eyes to the audience, and took his seat as 
serenely as if on a picnic and holiday. He has 
aged rapidly during the last year ; and his once 
golden locks are thinned and whitened, while hard 
lines dispel the brightness of his finely-chiseled 
face. The Grant men seemed to be more com- 
fortable, when they found him by their side, and 
evidently ready for the conflict. Logan's swarthy | 
features, flowing mustache and Indian hair were 
next visible on the eastern aisle ; but he stepped 



GATHERING OF THE CONVENTION. 



;S5 



to the head of his delegation so quietly, that he 
escaped a special welcome, and seated himself in 
silence. 

" Cameron had just stepped upon the platform 
with the elasticity of a boy ; and his youthful but 
strongly-marked face was recognized at once. 
There was no applause. They all knew that he 
never plays for the galleries, and that cheers are 
wasted upon him. He quietly sat down for ten 
minutes, although the time for calling the conven- 
tion to order had passed by an hour ; and he 
looked out upon the body, so big with destiny for 
himself and his Grant associates. As he passed 
by, he was asked: 'What of the battle?' To which 
he answered: 'We have three hundred to start 
wath, and we will stick, until we win,' 

"Generals SewellandKilpatrick took their posts 
at the head of the New Jersey men ; and just be- 
hind them the rosy faces of Garfield and Foster, 
and the tall, spare form of Denison were holding 
a hasty last council of the Sherman wing of the 
opposition. The youthful, olive-shaded features 
of Bruce of Mississippi were visible in the centre 
of his delegation. 

" At five minutes after one, Cameron quickly 
rose from his chair, advanced to the front, and 
brought his gavel down gently on the speaker's 
table. Cameron stood for half a minute after 
silence had been obtained, apparently free from 
all embarassment, and finally said in a clear voice : 



386 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



" ' The Convention will come to order, and will 
be opened with prayer.' 

"After the last words of an appropriate invo- 
cation had fallen from the lips of the clergyman, 
Cameron rose and said : 

" ' Gentlemen of the Convention : Before the 

Convention enters upon the important duties, that 

have called it together, I ask your attention for a 

single momen During the canvass just ended, 

there has been manifested in many sections of the 

country considerable bitterness, which I trust, will 

entirely disappear before entering upon the grave 

duties devolving upon us. Let there be but one 

motive eovernine our actions ; and let that be a 

determination to place in nomination the strongest 

possible candidates — men, strong in themselves, 

strong- in the confidence and affections of the 

people, and men, who will command the respect 

of the civilized world. Do not for a moment doubt 

the strength of our institutions. They have been 

tried in blood, and come from the contest better, 

stronger and purer, than the most ardent patriot 

dared to hope. No combination of circumstances, 

no coterie of individuals, no personal ambition can 

ever prevail against the intelligence and inborn 

love of liberty, which are implanted in the hearts 

of Americans. When the nominations are made, 

and the Convention has completed its work, let 

there be but one sentiment animating all earnest, 

sincere and unselfish Republicans ; and let that 



A CHAIRMAN CHOSEN. 



;87 



be, that each shall vie with the other In canning 
our grand old party through the coming contest 
to victory,' 

" He then presented the name of Hoar as tem- 
porary chairman. Applause greeted the announce- 
ment, which was a distinct defeat of the sena- 
tor, who announced it. No objection was raised, 
and Hoar came upon the platform, escorted by 
Davis of Texas, Fry'e of Maine, and Raum of Illi- 
nois. 

" The chairman immediately delivered the cus- 
tomary speech, in which he arraigned the Demo- 
cratic party for its sins of omission and commis- 
sion, and closed with these words : 

"'The Republican party has no such miserable 
history. It speaks of rebellion subdued, slaves 
freed, of great public works constructed, of debt 
diminished, of sound currency restored, of a flag 
floating long and everywhere honored and re- 
spected. The key-note of every Republican plat- 
form, the principle of every Republican union Is 
found in respect for the dignity of the individual 
man. Until that becomes the pervading principle 
of the Republic, from Canada to the Gulf, from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Republican mission 
is not ended. The Republican party lives by faith, 
that every man within the borders of the Repub- 
lic may dwell secure in a happy home, may cast 
his equal vote and have it counted, and may send 
his children at the public charge to a free school. 



-.gg rilE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

lentil these things come to pass, the mission of 
the Repubhcan party is not ended, nor its conflict 
with Its ancient adversary ended.' 

"Messrs. J. H. Roberts of Ilhnois, and Christo- 
pher Magee of Pennsylvania, were elected secre- 
taries. 

" Hale of Maine then moved for a call of the 
States and the namingf of the several members of 
the committees on permanent organization, reso- 
lutions, rules and credentials. Frye of Maine, 
from the platform, moved, that Utah should be 
represented upon the credentials committee, as it 
had been omitted by mistake. After a brief dis- 
cussion between Frye and Conkling, Utah secured 
its representation. 

" The roll of States was called for notices of con- 
tests, of which there were a great many; and an 
adjournment until Thursday morning at eleven 
was carried on motion of Conkling. The adjourn- 
ment was necessary to give the various commit- 
tees an opportunity to complete their reports." 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



THE SECOND DAY S CONTEST. 



IN the preceding chapter the doings of the first 
day of the Convention are briefly related. 
Owing to lack of space, a full account of the 
struggles in the Convention necessarily cannot be 
presented here ; nor is this essential, for all, that 
the reader requires, is as much of the story, as 
will enable him to understand the events, which 
led up to the nomination of General Garfield. 
The following summary, the details of which will 
be given briefly in this and following chapters, 
will be a useful introduction to the business of 
the Convention after the first day : 

Second Day. — Thursday, June 3d, — Contest 
over the order of business ; 

Third Day. — Friday, June 4th. — Report of the 
Committee on Credentials, the discussion of which 
was concluded on the following day ; 

FotL7'th Day. — Saturday, June 5th, — Adoption 
of the Rules and Platform, and presentation of 
the names of the candidates for the Presidency ; 

Fifth Day. — Monday, June 7th, — Ineffectual 
Balloting ; 

Sixth Day. — Election of General Garfield as 
the nominee of the Convention. 

33 (389) 



-,r,r> THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

The doings of the second day are given in this 
chapter. Their most interesting results were the 
disreeardine of the "unit-rule" in advance of the 
adoption of the Rules of the Convention, and the 
practical decision of the "third-term" question, 
which was, however, kept before the Convention, 
almost to its very last moment, in consequence of 
the pertinacity of its supporters. 

Exposition Hall presented much the same ap- 
pearance on Thursday morning, as on the preced- 
ing day. The attendance was, however, much 
larger. The delegates, as the hour of eleven ap- 
proached, straggled in slowly. Many of them 
came, fatigued from committee work and other 
matters, incidental to a gathering of the kind. At 
the hour for assembling, every seat in the gal- 
leries was occupied ; and the floor was unusually 
animated. A few minutes before noon. Hoar 
brought down his gavel upon the bouquet-embel- 
lished desk. A momentary confusion was caused 
by the removal of outsiders, who had crowded 
into every possible place. All knew, that the 
Committee on Credentials, which had the import- 
ant preliminary work of the Convention, would 
not be ready to report for several hours. Con- 
sequently, as soon as the prayer was concluded. 
Senator Conkling moved, that a recess be taken 
until six o'clock. This motion, which was warmly 
opposed by Hale (Maine), was lost. For a short 
time it was doubtful what the next step would be. 



PERMANENT ORGANIZA TION. 



391 



But Joy (Michigan) offered a resolution to the 
effect, that the case of the contestants from lUInoIs 
should be presented to the Convention by such 
counsel, as they should select. After a short con- 
test, the resolution was withdrawn at the sugges- 
tion of Hale (Maine). Later, Sewell (New 
Jersey) moved that the Committee on Permanent 
Organization be instructed to bring in its report. 
This was adopted. The report continued Hoar 
as permanent president, and provided a vice-presi- 
dent and secretary from each State. After the 
report was read and corrected, Hoar said : 

" Gentlemen of the Convention : You have 
manifested. In the choice you have made for per- 
manent presiding officer, a disposition to a wise 
economy In the matter of opening speeches. 
One good reason occurs to me for the selection, 
which you have made, and that is, that having 
heard one speech from me, you have, for reasons 
entirely satisfactory to each delegate, no Inclination 
to hear another opening speech." 

The men from Maine were still anxious to go 
on with business ; and Frye made a motion, that 
the Committee on Rules be requested to report. 
Sharpe, the New York member of the committee, 
said, that he had been Instructed to prepare a 
minority report, but that he had had no oppor- 
tunity, because the committee had been in session, 
until the assembling of the Convention. Frye 
then called upon Garfield, the chairman of this 



392 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Committee. When he arose, he was greeted 
with more enthusiastic applause, than had yet 
been heard in the Convention. He said, that the 
statement of the gentleman from New York was 
true. Frye then withdrew his motion and pro- 
posed a recess until five P.M. This was the 
occasion of a passage-at-arms between Conkling 
and Frye ; but the motion was adopted without a 
dissenting vote. As soon as the Convention re- 
assembled, Henderson (Iowa) announced, that 
the Committee on Credentials would not be ready 
to report at that session, and moved that the Com- 
mittee on Rules be requested to report, so that 
the Convention could proceed to business. This 
again precipitated a clash between the opposing 
factions. Logan said, that the Committee had 
agreed to defer their report until after the action 
on contested seats, and that the rules ought not 
to be adopted, before they knew, who were en- 
titled to seats in the body, especially as one of 
the rules to be reported would limit each speaker 
to five minutes. Henderson replied, that the chair- 
man of the Committee on Rules indicated there 
that morning, that there was no compact made in 
said committee, such as Loofan had asserted. 
Henderson said, that the Convention, by general 
concurrence, took a recess to give a minority of 
the committee time to report. But now the Con- 
vention was organized and ready for work ; and 
he must insist on his motion to proceed to busi- 



CETTIXG TO WORK. 



393 



ness. In conclusion he stated, on authority of a 
Kentucky member of the committee, who signed 
the minority report, that it was in fact ready to be 
reported. The Kentucky member arose,' and 
announced as a misrepresentation Henderson's 
statement, that the minority report was ready that 
morning. 

Another committeeman, rising, shouted excit- 
edly, that Henderson's statement was accurate 
and true. 

Boutwell (Mass.) said, that he should vote 
against the pending motion, if the five-minute rule 
was to be applied to arguments on the question 
of contested seats. 

Henderson said, that the arguments, presented 
against the five-minute rule, would be proper for 
consideration after the report was made. He and 
his associates had no desire to take unfair advan- 
tage of any one ; but he wanted the business to 
proceed. Sharpe (New York) said, that the mi- 
nority report was now ready, signed by represen- 
tatives of nine States, whose vote was necessary 
to the success of the Republican party. The com- 
mittee had agreed to postpone the enforcement of 
the five-minute rule, until the composition of the 
Convention was decided. He moved to amend 
Henderson's motion by ordering the Committee 
on Credentials to make its report. Garfield 
(Ohio), who was received with a storm of ap- 
plause, said, that there was no ground for any 



394 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



charge of bad faith by anybody in the Commit- 
tee on Rules ; and that, whenever the Convention 
chose to order the report from his committee, the 
latter would obey. He said, that the proposed 
rules were so drawn as to leave to the Convention 
the power to extend any speaker's* time beyond 
five minutes, even thouMi the general limitation 
would be fixed at five minutes. 

Conkling said, that the reason for the recess 
was, that, when the Convention reassembled, the 
Committee on Credentials should make its report. 
He had been told by members of that committee 
that they were ready to report, not on one or 
two or three cases, but on nearly every case. 

Henderson replied, that the amendment should 
not prevail, because, while the Committee on 
Rules was ready to report, the Committee on 
Credentials would probably not complete its work 
before the followino- morninor. 

The chair stated, that the question was first 
upon Sharpe's amendment. Sharpe asked, that 
the question be taken by yeas and nays ; and the 
chair, in the absence of any adopted rules, so 
ordered. The calling of the roll began, Alabama 
leading off with 19 yeas. When this vote was 
announced, a delecjate from that State, risino- de- 
sired to vote in the negative. Hoar replied : " \[ 
the gentleman wishes to vote 'no,' his vote will be 
received and recorded." At this announcement, 
which was an out-spoken, manly declaration 



DEATH OF THE UNIT RULE. ^qk 

against the " unit-rule," the Convention sent up 
a great shout, led by the galleries. The vote of 
Alabama was therefore recorded: "Yeas i8, 
Noes I." As the names of the remaining States 
were called, the votes of each delegation were re- 
corded in accordance with Hoar's ruling. The 
chair announced, that the amendment was rejected 
by a vote of 406 nays and 3 1 6 yeas. This result 
was unquestionably a defeat of those, who sup- 
ported the " third-term" movement. 

The question recurring upon the original mo- 
tion, Brandagee (Conn.) rising, said, that he had 
vot-ed against the amendment just rejected, but 
that he thought, that there was an understanding 
in the Committee on Rules, that their report 
should not be made until after that of the Com- 
mittee on Credentials. He moved to table the 
pending motion, with a view to adjourning. This 
was agreed to ; and the Convention adjourned 
undl the next day (June 4th). 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



CONTINUATION OF THE STRUGGLE. 



A 



T midnight of Thursday the Committee on 
Credentials had been in continuous session 
for six hours. It had settled the Illinois 
District contestants at the expense of eighteen 
votes for Grant, agreed to the admission of a 
divided delegation from Louisiana, and reached 
the Pennsylvania cases. Other cases occupied* 
the committee all night. 

The Convention, having assembled, was ready 
for the business of the third day. At 10.45 o'clock, 
A. M., Conkling offered the following : 

Resolved, As the sense of this Covention, that every mem- 
ber of it is bound in honor to support its nominee, whoever 
that nominee may be, and that no man shall hold his seat 
here, who is not ready so to agree. 

This furnished the key-note of a debate, that 
illustrated the direction, toward which the leaders 
were tending. Hale, mounting his chair, said, that 
the delegates all had their preferences, but that, 
when the deliverance was had from all the labor of 
the convention, he had no doubt, thatthey would all 
be found hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, 
marching on to the election of the candidates. 
(396) 



INDEPENDENT ACTION. 



397 



Brandagee called for a vote by states. The chair 
first put the question viva voce; and there were 
apparently half a dozen nays. Conkling asked 
for a call of the states, saying it was desirable to 
know, who in a Republican convention voted "no" 
on such a resolution. The chair asked the Conven- 
tion, whether there should be a call of states ; and 
it was ordered by an overwhelming vote. The 
clerk proceeded to call the roll. West Virginia 
cast 5 yeas and 3 nays. The total vote was : 
Yeas, 716; nays, 3; and the resolution was 
adopted. Conkling then offered the following 
resolution : 

Resolved, That the delegates, who have voted that they 
will not abide the action of the Convention, do not deserve 
to have seats, and have forfeited their votes in the Conven- 
tion. 

Campbell (West Virginia), who had cast the 
vote of that State, defended his position. Hale 
(West Virginia), who voted aye, defended the 
riorht of his colleague to utter his own sentiments 
as an individual delegate. Brandagee said, that 
the question was not one of free speech. It was 
only the question, what each would do for the 
support of Republican principles. McCormick 
(West Virginia) avowed himself one of the three 
dissenters, not because he did not expect to sup- 
port the nominee of the Convention, whoever he 
should be. He opposed the resolution, only be- 



398 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



cause It declared, that men are not fit to sit in the 
Convention, if they differ from other members. 

Garfield expressed the fear, that the Conven- 
tion was about to commit a erave error. He 
would state the case. Every delegate save three 
had voted for a resolution ; and the three had 
risen in their places and stated, that they intended 
to support the nominee of the Convention. Was 
every delegate to have his Republicanism inquired 
Into, before he was allowed to vote ? Delegates 
were responsible for their votes, not to the Con- 
vention, but to their constituents. He himself 
would never, in any convention, vote against his 
judgment. If this Convention expelled these 
men, It would have to purge Itself at the end of 
every vote, and Inquire, how many delegates who 
had voted " no," should go out. He trusted, that 
the gentleman from New York would withdraw 
his resolution, and let the Convention proceed 
with Its business. Conkling inquired of the chair, 
whether the three orentlemen from West Virofinia 
said, that they would vote for the nominee of the 
Convention. The chair said, that it was not his 
province to answer the question. Conkling Said, 
that he would not press his resolution, if his ques- 
tion was answered in the affirmative ; and finally 
withdrew it. 

Sewell (New Jersey) moved, that the Commit- 
tee on Rules be ordered to report with the under- 
standing that no action should be taken, until after 



RULES AND CREDENTIALS. -qq 

the report of the Committee on Credentials had 
been presented. The rules were then read by the 
secretary. The following (Rule 8), which opposed 
the employment of any " unit-rule," was received 
with great applause: 

In the record of a vote by States, the vote of each State, 
Territory, and the District of Columbia shall be announced 
by the chairman; and in announcing the vote of any State, 
Territory, and the District of Columbia, the chairman shall 
announce the number of votes cast for any candidate, or for 
or against any proposition ; but, if exception is taken by any 
delegate to the correctness of such announcement by the 
chairman of a delegation, the president of the Convention 
shall direct the roll of such delegation to be called ; and the 
result shall be recorded in accordance with the vote individu- 
ally given. 

Sharpe presented the minority report, recom- 
mending the adoption of the following (Rule 6 of 
the Convention of 1876) in place of Rule 8: 

In the record of votes by States, the vote of each State, 
Territory, and the District of Columbia shall be announced 
by the chairman, and in case the vote of any State, Territory, 
or the District of Columbia shall be divided, the chairman 
shall announce the number of votes cast for any candidate, or 
for or against any proposition. 

The long-delayed report of the Committee on 
Credentials was at length presented by Conger 
(Michigan). In Louisiana the committee recom- 
mended the admission of the Warmouth delega- 
tion; in Alabama the admission of Rapier, Smith 

AA 



AQQ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

and Warner ; in Illinois the admission of the con- 
testants for the seats of the sitting members from 
nine Congressional Districts. They reported 
against the contestant in the Second Illinois Dis- 
trict, and did not sustain the objections to the del- 
egates-at-large from that State. They reported 
in favor of the sitting members from the Ninth 
and the Nineteenth Districts of Pennsylvania, and 
the Third District of West Virginia ; and in favor 
of the contestants from the Second and the Third 
Districts of Kansas. They recommended, that the 
delegates from Utah should keep their seats. 
The committee suggested, that the final decision 
of many of these contests depended upon the 
adoption by the Convention of the principle of 
District-repr-esentation. The report did not be- 
lieve, that this principle should be assailed for the 
first time by a National Convention. 

This report was received with applause, Clay- 
ton (Arkansas) then presented the minority re- 
port. The recommendation of the majority, if 
adopted, would, the minority considered, reverse 
the long-established usage of the party in many 
States. They urged, that there was a vacancy 
in the district claimed by Rapier, and that the sit- 
ting members were entitled to the seats, which the 
majority report awarded to Smith and Warner. 
They reported, that there seemed to have been no 
District conventions in Alabama, at which the con- 
testants had been chosen. Their authority there 



DELEGA TES AT PR O VED. ^q j 

could rest only on the action of the State Con- 
vention. The minority claimed, that, if the prin- 
ciple of District representation was a sound one, 
more than half of the delegates, sitting in the Con- 
vention, were there without right. In the case of 
Illinois, they made an elaborate statement of facts, 
and denied the charge, that the State Convention 
had entered into a gigantic conspiracy to defraud 
the electors. The report took the ground, that local 
quarrels, as in Cook County, should be left to the 
State Convention, and not transferred to the Na- 
tional Convention. It ended with the recommenda- 
tion, that the sitting delegates should be allowed 
to keep their seats. 

Conger presented the corrected list of delegates, 
as reported by his committee, and moved, that the 
Convention proceed to consider the Louisiana 
case. Cessna (Pennsylvania) moved to adopt all 
of the report, on which the committee had agreed, 
and then proceed to the separate consideration of 
the disputed issues involving the contests in Ala- 
bama, Illinois, West Vlrmnia and Utah. Conkline 
called for the consideration of the questions, which 
fell within the list of undisputed cases. Conger 
said, that this list embraced the cases of Louisiana, 
the Second District of Illinois, the Illinois dele- 
gates-at-large, the Second and the Fourth Districts 
of Kansas, and the Ninth and the Nineteenth Dis- 
tricts of Pennsylvania. Logan inquired, how it 
happened, that there was any report about the four 



AQ2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

delegates-at-large from Illinois. Conger replied, 
that petitions against the right of the four dele- 
gates-at-large had been presented to the Conven- 
tion and referred to the committee, and that it was 
therefore necessary for the committee to notice 
the subject. A Kansas delegate objected to in- 
cluding his state in the list of undisputed ques- 
tions. Cessna amended his motion by allowing 
separate action on the Kansas case. Sharpe 
(New York) moved to amend Cessna's original 
motion by striking from the majority report so 
much of it, as related to the Illinois delegfates-at- 
large. Conger, referring to Logan, said, that he | 
made no apology to that gentleman, or to the 
State of Illinois, or to this great body of people, 
for the moral courage of this committee, which 
enabled it to say to the world, that the gentleman 
was entitled to his seat. Cessna's amendment 
was then adopted without dissent. The question 
was then on Sharpe's amendment. Haywood 
(California) pointed out, that, if it should prevail, 
the seats of the Illinois delegates would be con- 
tested, while the committee proposed to put their 
title beyond question or dispute in history. It 
was modified, so as to strike from the majorit}" re- 
port as much of it, as implied that there was any 
contest regarding the Illinois delegation-at-large, 
and adopted. Cessna's original motion was then 
adopted; and the Convention adjourned until 
seven P. M. 



A BRILLIANT SCENE. 



403 



The Convention after re-assembling continued 
in session forsev^eral hours, during which the de- 
bates were confined exclusively to the contested 
cases, as reported by the majority of the Com- 
mittee on Credentials. The applause was re- 
markable in its singular spontaneity and prolonga- 
tion, when Blaine and Grant were mentioned by 
the speakers. The brilliancy of the scene during 
this session was remarkable. The unusual pres- 
ence of ladies in bright colors, the thousands of 
gas-jets, the flowers, fiags, and banners, and the 
portraits, surrounded by the National bunting, 
made a picture never to be forgotten by those, 
who witnessed it. In the contested cases, that of 
Alabama was first taken up. The question was 
on the substitution of the minority report for the 
majority. Boutwell (Massachusetts) offered the 
followinof : 

Resolved, That all the cases of contested seats be decided 
by adopting the usage of each State, and that in every State, 
where the uniform usage has been to^elect delegates to the 
National Republican Convention by the State Convention, 
that usage shall be deemed binding, and the same shall be 
true in respect of delegates, sent by Districts Conventions, 
where that has been the usage. 

Conger rose to the point of order, that the re- 
solution was not germane to the pending ques- 
tion ; and the chair sustained the point. The 
question was put and decided viva voce in the 
negative. A division was demanded, and the re- 



404 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



suit was, yeas 306, nays 449. This announce- 
ment, which settled the question of the power of 
a State Convention to compel a delegate to vote 
as it directs, was received with loud applause. 
The report of the majority was then adopted. 

The case of Illinois was then taken up. Logan 
said, that he was informed, that the California del- 
egates were not awarded their credentials, until 
they had pledged themselves to support the can- 
didate, for whom the State Convention instructed 
them to vote. Haymond (California) replied : 
*' California selected her delegates to this conven- 
tion by the vote of each district represented here. 
Their appointment was confirmed by the State 
Convention ; and that there should be no mistake 
about it, the State Convention had then, with per- 
fect unanimity, instructed the delegates to vote 
first, last and all the time, for the distinguished 
Senator from Maine." His allusion to the " Sen- 
ator from Maine," caused such a scene of excite- 
ment, as has rarely been witnessed in a political 
convention within the United States. Three- 
fourths of the immense throno- in the ealleries 
and on the floor outside of the space allotted to 
delegates, and fully one-half of the delegates 
themselves, sprang to their feet, cheering, shout- 
ing, waving hats, handkerchiefs and umbrellas for 
several minutes, before any attempt at restoring 
order could be made. Subsequently, Conger con- 
tinued the debate in favor of the majority report, 



ENTHUSIASM RISING. 



405 



which, he said, established in that Conventif)n the 
rule, that had prevailed in Illinois from the birth 
of the Republican party down to the present 
time, the rule of District representation, Raum 
(Illinois) replied for the sitting- delegates. Eliott 
Anthony spoke for the opposition, and was suc- 
ceeded by Storrs (Illinois), the principal effect of 
whose speech was to cause wild bursts of ap- 
plause for Blaine and Grant. The sentence, 
" Nominate James G. Blaine if you will," was the 
signal for another grand outburst of applause, 
which was renewed and intensified, when he fin- 
ished the sentence thus : " And then those, who 
now shout In the galleries, shall by-and-by be re- 
posing under the influence of the summer sun ; 
but the followers of the grand old silent soldier 
will still be found, wide awake and watching by 
their camp-fires, and carrying the banners of the 
sluo-Q^ards." 

The scene, which followed, was one of wild en- 
thusiasm; the uproar dying away, then breaking 
out again, many times. For half an hour this con- 
tinued, before the chair made any effort to control 
the members. The Illinois cases were then settled 
in accordance with the majority report ; and, worn 
out with excitement, the Convention adjourned to 
the followino- morning-. 

34* 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THE THUNDERS OF ORATORY. 



THE weather changed its mood on the 
morning of the fourth day of the great 
battle ; and those, who went to Exposition 
Hall had to face inclemency. Within the Hall, 
however, there was but little change. A distin- 
guished editor thus described the closing scenes 
of the struo^ale over contested seats : 

" President Hoar did not call the Convention 
to order until a quarter before twelve. The 
Kansas contest was the first business, and it was 
an embarrassinof issue to both sides. The Blaine- 
Sherman men were compelled to vote out four of 
their men and to give their seats to Grant men, 
to justify their action in the Illinois case ; and the 
Grant men had to vote against the admission of 
their own friends to maintain their consistency. 
The Blaine-Sherman men preserved their inten- 
tion and voted out their own men ; but some of 
the fiercest Grant men stood obstinately to their 
guns, and voted against the addition of four to 
their number. Logan rose, and in dramatic style 
cast the votes of his Illinois followers against his 
friends. The overwhelming vote of 476 to 184 
showed, however, that separate District represen- 

406 



DELEGATES ENROLLED. 



407 



tation is henceforth to be the accepted law of the 
party. The next question brought about a sud- 
den change of partners in the national waltz. 
Two Sherman men contested the seats of the 
Blaine delegates from West Virginia ; and the 
Sherman men were thrown into an alliance with the 
Grant men, as if by magic. The cut came from 
Massachusetts ; and the Blaine leaders saw, that 
an unexpected and serious danger threatened 
them. They threw out their flanks to stay the 
union between the Sherman and Grant forces ; 
but it was Grouchy after Blucher over again. 
The Sherman men piled in with the Grant army ; 
and Blaine was compelled for the first time to 
face the field alone — as Grant had to meet it in 
several previous conflicts. An active rally was 
made along the Blaine lines ; but the vote of 
every divided delegation proved, that many, who 
were bitterly against Grant, were as bitterly 
against Blaine; and the ballot footed up 417 for 
the new Grant-Sherman combination, and 312 
against it." 

After this the Utah contesting delegates were 
seated by a vote of 426 to 312 ; and the contests 
were finished. 

Garfield then inquired of Sharpe, who made 
the minority report of the Committee on Rules 
and Order of Business, how much time he de- 
sired for the discussion of the report. Sharpe 
could not tell exacdy. When the minority and 



4o8 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



majority reports had been read, Garfield moved 
the adoption of the majority report. Sharpe crit- 
icized the proposed amendment to Rule 8, remind- 
ing- the chairman of the Committee on Rules, that 
the Convention had been in session three and a 
half days, and had had no trouble from the ab- 
sence of that rule. He was not there to seek 
further delay. He therefore offered the following 
resolution : 

Resolved, That this convention will proceed immediately 
to ballot for a candidate for President of the United States, 
and that one speech of fifteen minutes shall be allowed for the 
presentation of each candidate, and one speech of ten minutes 
to second each nomination, and that, after such nominations 
are made, a ballot shall be taken by a call of the roll of the 
States. 

Garfield raised the point of order, that under 
the order of ihe Convention the report of the 
Committee on Rules was before the body, and 
that Sharpe's motion to proceed to entirely diffe- 
rent business, was not In order. The chair ruled 
Sharpe's motion in order; and a vote was ordered 
by call of states. Garfield pointed out, that, If 
Sharpe's motion should be adopted, the Conven- 
tion would be without rules for Its government, 
and especially without any rule prescribing whether 
or not the " unit rule" shall prevail in the balloting. 
Let the rule be settled and he would be bound by 
it. Let It be the unit rule, or the individual rule, 
and he would feel bound by It, the latter partlcu- 



RULES ADOPTED. ^qq 

larly, because he considered it eternally right. 
Alter considerable discussion, the chair stated, that 
tlie question was on the substitution of Sharpe's 
resolution for the report of the Committee on 
Rules. Upon a viva voce vote the negatives had it. 
A call of states was demanded, and resulted: Yeas. 
287; nays, 479. The result was hailed with great 
applause. Garfield said, that the convention had 
wasted on this vote time enough to have adopted 
the rules and gone to work. He asked, that the 
question now be taken without further debate. 
Sharpe moved to substitute the minority report for 
the majority. This motion was rejected. Bout- 
well moved to amend the majority report by add- 
ing the following: "And said committee (the Na- 
tional Republican Committee) shall, within twelve 
months, prescribe a method or methods for the 
election of delegates to the National Convention 
to be held in 1884, and announce the same to the 
country, and issue a call for that Convention in 
conformity therewith." 

Butterworth (Ohio) moved an amendment by 
adding the following : " Provided, that nothing in 
such rules or method shall be so construed as to 
prevent the several Congressional Districts in the 
United States from selectino- their own deleorates 
to the National Convention." [Applause.] 

Boutwell accepted the amendment; and his mo- 
tion as amended was adopted. Then the Rules 
were adopted as a whole. On motion of Garfield 



.^Q THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the Committee on resolutions was ordered to re^ 
port. The reading of the Platform, which the 
Committee presented, was frequently interrupted 
by applause and cheers. After the adoption of 
the Platform, the Convention took a recess until 
7 o'clock in the evening. 

The evening session was particularly crowded, 
as nothing now remained but to nominate and 
ballot. The spectators were full of enthusiasm ; 
and the crowd without listened for every echo, 
that came from the Convention-hall. As soon as 
the delegates were ready, the chairman read a 
communication from Mr. James P. Root, calling 
attention to the historical associations of the gavel 
used by the presiding officer of the Convention. 
Its head was made of a piece of wood, grown at 
the home of Abraham Lincoln, and the handle from 
a cane, erown at the home of Washino-ton. 

The most interesting work of the Convention 
was now close at hand. Hale moved a call of 
the states for the purpose of placing the various 
candidates in nomination. Ten minutes were 
allowed to the one nominating ; five to the one 
seconding. When Michigan was reached, James 
F. Joy took the platform, and said : 

"Mr. Chairman; It was in i860, I think, tnat 
a young man, born in the old Keystone State, but 
resident in the State of Maine, entered the House 
of Representatives. That was a time, when the 
horizon was darkened with clouds, indicating a 



BLAINE IN NOMINATION. 



411 



coming tempest. It was just before the war ; the 
clouds burst over the country ; and the war en- 
sued and raged for four long years. Finally the 
strength of one of the contending parties gave 
way; and peace at last settled down on the coun- 
try. Then ensued the contest for reconstruction, 
and that occupied four years more. During all 
that period of time, that young man, always true, 
always brave, always eloquent, applied his talents 
in every way necessary either to carry on the war 
or to bring about reconstruction on a proper basis. 
His reputation grew and towered all that time 
until at last, when reconstruction had been prac- 
tically secured, he stood high before the country, 
and his name became a household word, familiar 
in every corner of the land and looked up to from 
all quarters. That name was the name of James 
G. Blaine. When the nomination of General 
Grant was made, all eyes in the northern section 
of the country were turned on James G. Blaine, 
and he canvassed the country from the Mississippi 
and beyond for that candidate, so that the people of 
the North and of the great West became familiar 
with him. He had about him that wonderful power 
of attracting men which another great man — Henry 
Clay, of Kentucky — possessed in an equally emi- 
nent deofree. 

"On the second nomination of General Grant, 
Mr. Blaine was again called upon, and he again 
traversed the country, exercising his eloquence 



A I 2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

and powers. He had become so well-known to 
the people, that when the last Republican Con- 
vention was held at Cincinnati, four years ago, he 
had become the leading candidate of the Northern 
people for the Presidency. He was the favorite 
candidate of the State which I represented in that 
convention. The deleo-ates from Michieran went 
there with the view of ur^-ine and securino-, if 
possible, his nomination ; and he came within a 
very few votes of getting it. But while he may 
have been disappointed, still when the canvass 
came on, and when it was doubtful whether the 
Republicans would succeed in electing their can- 
didate, he, although he had been repudiated in 
that Convention, buckled on his harness, entered 
the tracks and again traversed the country, fight- 
ing manfully, gloriously, vigorously, until the bat- 
tle was won." 

The chairman announced that the speaker's 
time had expired, but, on motion of Garfield, his 
time was extended. 

Joy resumed: "The result was that he en- 
deared himself to the Republicans of the North- 
west even more than before, and when this Con- 
vention was called, the people of Michigan, who 
so earnestly advocated him before, again turned 
their gaze toward him. With these remarks, I 
have the honor to present to this Convention, as 
a candidate for the Presidency, the name of James 
G. Blaine." 



GRANT IN NOMINA TION. ^ j ^ 

This was the signal for a wild scene of excite- 
ment, the larger half of the audience and all the 
Blaine delegates rising and cheering vociferously, 
and waving flags, hats, fans, umbrellas, anything 
obtainable, in the most frantic manner. After 
order was somewhat restored, Pixley (California) 
seconded the nomination in a speech of consid- 
erable lenirth. Its close was the signal for another 
outburst of cheers. Frye followed in an electric 
speech of ten minutes, which made the galleries 
wild again. 

Minnesota being called, E. F. Drake presented 
the name of Senator Windom. There was no 
seconder. 

When New York was called, Conkling arose, 
took a position on a reporter's table, and, with his 
usual impressive manner, nominated General 
Grant. He briefly reviewed the " third-term" ob- 
jections, and urged, that it was no objection to 
any man, that he had been weighed in the balance 
and not found wanting, or that he had obtained 
experience, which rendered him better fitted for 
the duties confided to his care. He continued: 
" When asked whence comes our candidate, we 
say from Appomattox. Obeying instructions I 
should never dare to disregard, expressing also 
my own firm conviction, I rise in behalf of the 
State of New York, to propose a nomination wich 
which the country and the Republican party can 
grandly win. 



AlA THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

" The need of the hour is a candidate who can 
carry doubtful States North and South, and be- 
Heving that he more surely than any other can 
carry New York against any opponent, and can 
carry not only the North, but several States of 
the South, New York is for Ulysses S. Grant. He 
alone of living Republicans has carried New York 
as a Presidential candidate. Once he carried it 
even according to a Democratic count, and twice 
he carried it by the people's votes, and he is 
stronger now — the Republican party, with its 
standard in his hand, is stronger now — than in 
i868or 1872. Never defeated in war or in peace, 
his name is the most illustrious borne by any liv- 
ing man. His services attest his greatness ; and 
the country knows them by heart. Standing on 
the highest eminence of human destination, and 
having filled all lands with his renown, modest, 
simple and self-poised, he has seen not only the 
titled, but the poor and the lowly, in the uttermost 
ends of the earth, rise and uncover before him. 
He has studied the needs and defects of many 
systems of government, and he comes back a bet- 
ter American than ever, with a wealth of knowledge 
and experience added to the hard common sense, 
which so conspicuously distinguished him in all 
the fierce light, that beat upon him throughout 
the most eventful, trying and perilous sixteen 
years of the nation's history. Never having had 
'a policy' to enforce against the will of the people, 



WILD ENTHUSIASM. 



415 



he never betrayed a cause or a friend, and the 
people will never betray or desert him. Vilified 
and reviled, truthlessly aspersed by numberless 
persons, not in other lands, but in his own, the 
assaults upon him have strengthened and sea- 
soned his hold on the public heart. Never elated 
by success, never depressed by adversity, he has 
ever in peace, as in war, shown the very genius 
of common sense. The terms he prescribed for 
Lee's surrender foreshadowed the wisest princi- 
ples and prophecies of true reconstruction." 

Towards the conclusion, Mr. Conkling said, that 
the Convention was master of a supreme oppor- 
tunity. It could make the next President, and 
also make sure of his peaceful inauguration. It 
could break that power, which mildews the South, 
It could make the Republican army march to cer- 
tain victory with its greatest marshal at its head. 

It was fully twenty minutes, before order could 
be restored. The Grant men in the Convention 
and the galleries had a " regular jubilee." The 
Grant delegations, collecting the flags, which 
marked their seats, marched along the aisles cheer- 
ing and shouting. Finally Bradley (Kentucky), 
allowed to speak, seconded Grant's nomination. 

When Ohio was called, Garfield rose, and, amid 

tremenduous cheering, advanced to the place, 

which Conkling had just vacated. When order 

was restored, he delivered the following speech 

(which should rather be called a Jinished oration): 

BB 



4i6 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



"Mr. President: I have witnessed the extra- 
ordinary scenes of this Convention with deep 
solicitude. No emotion touches my heart more 
quickly than a sentiment in honor of a great and 
noble character. But as I sat on these seats and 
witnessed these demonstrations, it seemed to me 
you were a human ocean in a tempest. I have 
seen the sea lashed into a fury and tossed Into a 
spray; and its grandeur moves the soul of the 
dullest man. But I remember, that it is not the 
billows, but the calm level of the sea, from which 
all heights and depths are measured. Gentlemen 
of the Convention, your present temper may not 
mark the healthful pulse of our people. When 
our enthusiasm has passed, when the emotions of 
this hour have subsided, we shall find the calm level 
of public opinion, below the storm, from which 
the thoughts of a mighty people are to be meas- 
ured, and by which their final action will be deter- 
mined. Not here, in this brilliant circle, where 
fifteen thousand men and women are assembled, 
is the destiny of the Republic to be decreed; not 
here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of seven 
hundred and fifty-six delegates waiting to cast 
their votes into the urn and determine the 
choice of their party ; but by four million Repub- 
lican firesides, where the thoughtful fathers, with 
wives and children about them, with the calm 
thoughts Inspired by love of home and love of 
country, with the history of the past, the hopes of 



GARFIELD'S SrEECII. . j y 

the future, and the knowledge of the great men, 
who have adorned and blessed our nation in days 
gone by — there God prepares the verdict, that shall 
determine the wisdom of our work to-nicrht. 
Not in Chicago in the heat of June, but in the 
sober quiet, that comes between now and Novem- 
ber, in the silence of deliberate judgment, will 
this great question be settled. Let us aid them 
to-night. 

" But now, gentlemen of the convention, what 
do we want? [A voice, "Garfield."] Bear with 
me a moment. Hear me for this cause, and, for 
a moment, be silent, that you may hear. Twenty- 
five years ago this republic was wearing a triple 
chain of bondage. Long familiarity with traffic in 
the bodies and souls of men had paralyzed the 
consciences of a majority of our people. The 
baleful doctrine of State sovereignty had shocked 
and weakened the noblest and most beneficent 
powers of the National Government; and the 
grasping power of slavery was seizing the virgin 
territories of the West and draeGfine them into 
the den of eternal bondage. At that crisis the 
Republican party was born. It entered the arena, 
when the beleaofured and assailed territories were 
struggling for freedom, and drew around them the 
sacred circle of liberty, which the demon of sla- 
very has never dared to cross. Strengthened by 
its victory on the frontier, the young party, under 
the leadership of that great man, who on this spot 

1 r ^ 
^5 



4i8 



THE LIFE OF FRESWENT GARFIELD. 



twenty years ago was made its leader, entered the 
national capitol and assumed the high duties of 
the government. The, light, which shone from its 
banner, dispelled the darkness, in which slavery 
had enshrouded the capitol, and melted the 
shackles of every slave, and consnmed, in the fire 
of liberty, every slave-pen within the shadow of 
the capitol. Our national industries, by an impo- 
verishing policy, were themselves prostrated, and 
the streams of revenue flowed in such feeble cur- 
rents, that the treasury itself was well-nigh empty. 
The money of the people was the wretched notes 
of two thousand uncontrolled and irresponsible 
State banking corporations, which were filling the 
country with a circulation, that poisoned rather 
than sustained the life of business. The Repub- 
lican party changed all this. It abolished the 
babel of confusion, and gave the country a cur- 
rency, as national as its flag, based upon the sacred 
faith of the people. It threw its protecting arm 
around our great industries; and they stood erect 
as with new life. It filled with the spirit of true 
nationality all the great functions of the govern- 
ment. It confronted a rebellion of unexampled 
magnitude, with slavery behind it, and, under God, 
fought the final battle of liberty, until victory was 
won. Then, after the storms of battle, were heard 
the sweet, calm words of peace, uttered by the 
conquering nation, and saying to the conquered 
foe, that lay prostrate at its feet : ' This is our only 



GARFIELD ' S SPEECH. . j g 

revenge, that you join us in lifting to the serene 
firmament of the Constitution, to shine like stars 
for ever and ever, the immortal principles of truth 
and justice, that all men; white or black, shall be 
free and stand equal before the law.' 

" Then came the questions of reconstruction, the 
public debt, and the public faith. In the settle- 
ment of these questions the Repubican party has 
completed its twenty-five years of glorious exist- 
ence ; and it has sent us here to prepare it for 
another lustrum of duty and of victory. How 
shall we do this great work ? We cannot do it, 
my friends, by assailing our Republican brethren. 
God forbid that I should say one word to cast a 
shadow upon any name on the roll of our heroes. 
This coming fight is our Thermopylae. Let us 
hold our ground this one year, for the stars in 
their courses fight for us in the future. The 
census taken this year will bring re-inforcements 
and continued power. But in order to win this 
victory now, we want the vote of every Repub- 
lican, of every Grant Republican and every anti- 
Grant Republican in American, of every Blaine 
man and every anti-Blaine man. The vote of 
every follower of every candidate is needed to 
make our success certain. Therefore, I say, gen- 
tlemen and brethren, we are here to take calm 
counsel together, and inquire what we shall do. 
[A voice "Nominate Garfield." Great applause.] 
We want a man, who standing on a mountain 



^20 ^^^^ ^^^^ '^^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

height, sees all the achievements of our past his- 
hory, and carries in his heart the memory of all 
its glorious deeds, and who, looking forward, pre- 
pares to meet the labor and the dangers to come. 
We want one, who will act in no spirit of unkind- 
ness toward those we lately met in batde. The 
Republican party offers to our brethren of the 
South the olive branch of peace, and wishes them 
to return to brotherhood, on this supreme con- 
dition, that it shall be admitted forever and for- 
evermore, that, in the war for the Union, we were 
right and they were wrong. 

"Now, gentlemen, not to weary you, I am about 
to present a name for your consideration — the 
name of a man, who was the comrade and asso- 
ciate and friend of nearly all those noble dead, 
whose faces look down upon us from these walls 
to-night ; a man, who began his career of public 
service twenty-five years ago, whose first duty was 
courageously done in the days of peril on the 
plains of Kansas, when the first red drops of that 
bloody shower began to fall, which finally swelled 
into- the deluge of war. You ask for his monu- 
ment? I point you to twenty-five years of na- 
tional statutes. Not one great beneficent statute 
has been placed in our statute-books without his 
intelligent and powerful aid. He aided these men 
to formulate the laws, that raised our great armies 
and carried us through the war. His hand was 
seen in the workmanship of those statutes, that 



SJ/AA'J/.-lA J A ,\0MIi\A'J10N. ^21 

restored, and brought back, the unity and married 
calm of the States. His hand was hi all that ereat 
legislation, that created the war-currency, and in a 
still greater work, that redeemed the promises of 
the Government, and made the currency equal to 
gold. And when at last called from the halls of 
legislation into a high executive office, he displayed 
that experience. Intelligence, firmness and poise 
of character, which has carried us through a 
stormy period of three years. With one-half the 
public press crying: 'crucify him,' and a hostile 
Congress seeking to prevent success — in all this 
he remained unmoved, until victory crowned him. 
He has shown himself able to meet with calmness 
the great emergencies of the Government for 
twenty-five years. He has trodden the perilous 
heights of public duty, and against all the shafts 
of malice has borne his breast unharmed. He 
has stood in the blaze of 'that fierce llo-ht that 
beats against the throne ; ' but Its fiercest ray has 
found no flaw in his armor, no stain on his 
shield. I do not present him as a better Republi- 
can or as a better man than thousands of others 
we honor, but I present him for your deliberate 
consideration. I nominate John Sherman of Ohio." 
Referring to this masterly effort, the Chicago 
Inter- Oceaji, a strong "third-term" paper, said 
the following morning : " The verdict of the la- 
dies In the gallery, many times during the con- 
vention, is that Conkling Is ' so handsome,' and 



• 22 ^-^^ ^^^^ OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Garfield * so plain.' But the Ohio school-teacher, 
minister, legislator and statesman is not plain- 
looking. To the beauty of great strength is 
added the grace, with which an illustrious and 
radiant renown will clothe any man. Large of 
form, with a huge head, the figure fixed like a 
rock on that table, while the building trembles 
with applause, is imposing, peerless and grand. 
To all of this, Garfield's nature adds a charm 
possessed by few men — the beauty of a generous 
and affectionate nature. A big heart, a sympa- 
thetic nature, and a mind keenly sensitive to 
everything, that is beautiful in sentiment, are the 
artists, that shade down the gnarled outlines, and 
touch with soft coloring the plain features of a 
massive face. The conception of a grand thought 
always paints a glow upon Garfield's face, which 
no one forgets, who has seen him while speaking. 
His eyes are a cold gray, but they are often — yes, 
all the time in this speech — lit brilliantly by the 
warm light of worthy sentiments, and the strong 
flame of a great man's conviction. In speaking, 
he Is not so restless as Conkling. His speech is 
an appeal for thought and calm deliberation ; and 
he stands still, like the rock of judgment, while 
he delivers It. There is no Invective or bitterness 
in his effort; but there is throughout an earnest- 
ness of conviction and an unquestionable air of 
sincerity, to which every gesture and Intonation of 
voice are especially adapted." 



COMMENTS ON GARFIELD. 



42. 



Whitelaw Reid telegraphed the following to the 
New York Tribune: "It seems to be the verdict 
of the majority that General Garfield won the 
laurels of the night, as indeed he has of the con- 
vention thus far. Mr. Frye's speech, though elo- 
quent, was delivered without any preparation 
whatever. General Garfield's speech was ad- 
mirably adapted to make votes for his candidate, 
if speeches ever made votes. It was courteous, 
conciliatory and prudent. General Garfield hon- 
estly did his best for Secretary Sherman, and yet 
the general is so popular here, that the chief ef- 
fect of his speech has been to increase the talk 
and speculation as to the possibility of his being 
made the nominee, if the situation were different." 

The Chicago Jouryial said editorially: "The 
supreme orator of the evening was General Gar- 
field. He is a man of superb power and noble 
character. The name of John Sherman could 
not have been better presented. His claims upon 
the good opinion of the American people — and 
they are very great — were urged in a way worthy 
the occasion. He indulged in no fling at others. 
It was a model speech in temper and tone. The 
impression made was powerful and altogether 
wholesome. Many felt, that, if Ohio had offered 
Garfield instead of Sherman, she would have 
been more likely to win," 

Sherman's nomination was seconded by Winkler 
(Wisconsin), and Elliott (South Carolina). 



424 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Vermont being called, Billings rose to put in 
nomination Senator Edmunds, and said that no 
State could have a better right to name a Repub- 
lican candidate and none could name a better 
man. Republicanism runs in Vermont's blood. 
The man, whom she named for the Presidency, 
was no longer hers ; he was the property and 
pride of the nation. Vermont looked forward 
through the years and saw the ignominy and 
crime of giving up the Government to a revolu- 
tionary Democracy ; and she implored this Con- 
vention to let nothing put the Republican victory 
in peril, but to make that victory secure by put- 
ting on the platform a candidate far better even 
than the Platform — a candidate weak nowhere, but 
strong everywhere — the incarnation of the prin- 
ciples of that Platform. Any other course fore- 
boded disaster and courted defeat. Such a can- 
didate, as was needed, was that brave, keen, 
vieilant man, on whom rested no shadow of evil re- 
port, the leader of the Senate, George F. Edmunds. 
Vermont nominated him for the Presidency, and 
asked the Convention to accept him. The nomi- 
nation was seconded by Sanford (Massachusetts). 

Cassidy (Wisconsin) then offered the name of 
Elihu B. Washburn, who was seconded by Brand- 
agee (Connecticut). All the candidates had now 
been presented. As it was within a few minutes 
of Sunday morning, the Convention adjourned 
until Monday morning. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



A DAY OF DOUBT. 




UNDAY at Chicago was passed In feverish 
and impatient hoping and waiting. Every 
nerve was strained to strengthen wavering 
delegates, to capture new ones, and to repair 
every spot tn the chain of defenses. No one could 
predict, what would happen, with the reasonable 
certainty of Friday night. The following letter of 
one of the most intelligent correspondents at the 
Convention describes the opening scene of the 
fifth day: 

" The sun rose in a cloudless sky this morning ; 
and a gentle, cool breeze from the lake promised 
a charming day for the great conflict. The crowd 
had been considerably thinned out since Saturday 
night. Many of the most boisterous elements, 
who were too expensive, as strikers, to be con- 
tinued on duty indefinitely, had dropped out of 
the battle ; but the effective soldiery of all sides 
remained ; and the rank and file seemed more 
impatient than the leaders for the struggle. There 
was not that effervescence of wild expectation, 
that was displayed, when the same people first 
crowded into Exposition Hall on Wednesday 
morning. Their faces were freshened by rest ; 

36 (425) 



426 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



but they had been sobered by the realities of the 
contest and the gravity of its hue. When the 
doors were opened hurried streams of humanity 
poured in at every entrance ; and, when the hour 
arrived for President Hoar to swing his gavel, all 
the pordons of the hall within possible hearing of 
the proceedings were jammed to the uttermost. 
Even the reserved platform of the correspondents 
was Invaded by the crowd, until communication 
with the hundred batteries, which maintained their 
ceaseless clicking hard by, was almost entirely 
interrupted. Hoar came in ahead of time, and 
looked serene as a summer morning, that wel- 
comed him to his task ; and his face was fresh as 
the roses, which shed their exquisite tints and 
fragrance on the table. He had borne himself so 
well, so impartially, and so intelligently, that all 
felt assured of a faithful umpire in the desperation 
of the last charge of the contending hosts. Ala- 
bama, as usual, was first to present a full dele- 
o-adon ; and Arkansas, just behind her, speedily 
followed. Conkling knew, that he would meet 
his grandest welcome, as he passed before his 
allies to lead them in the hand-to-hand struggle. 
As soon as his tall form and silvered crown were 
visible, the shout went up, that all understood ; 
and it was heartier and longer than ever before. 
Garfield is the member of the Convendon, who 
divides with Conkling, the popular welcome of 
every opening. He received a royal welcome, 



PEN PORTRAITS. 



427 



when he entered , and his strong, rugged features 
Hghtened hke the rippled lake with its dancing 
sunshine. Cameron was active, silent and de- 
termined as ever. He flitted hurriedly among 
the distinguished guests, before the signal-gun was 
fired, and then retired to his immediate command. 
Hale and Frye were among the first to take their 
position; and hope and fear were plainly wrestling 
with each other on their faces. Both seemed well 
poised and reasonably self-reliant ; but the con- 
trast between their nervous apprehensions and the 
calm defiance of Conkling was a study for the in- 
telligent observers of men. Chandler was restless, 
and his little face seemed to have shrunk away 
behind his eye-glasses. Logan was as calm as 
the dark cloud, that is waiting to hurl its thunder- 
bolt. He seemed conscious, that his leader was 
beaten ; but he was evidently resolved, that. there 
should be a costly retreat for the pursuing hosts. 
Garfield, Foster, Dennison, Bateman, Butterworth, 
and other Ohio leaders were to be seen in little 
knots of their delegation, as if they feared defec- 
tion at an early stage of the contest; and there 
was evident unrest among the Indiana men. Gen- 
eral Harrison's short form and sharply cut 
features were shaded with anxiety. General 
Sewell sat in front of Conkling ; and his youth- 
ful face exhibited the coolness and determi- 
nation, which characterize him in the heat of 
battle. As far as faces could be distinguished in 



428 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



the great arena, all seemed to be soberly anxious 
for the order to advance. When President Hoar 
called the Convention to order, there was a speedy 
hush; and the vast multitude was seated with 
wonderful alacrity. All seemed anxious for the 
fight to begin. The minister, who opened with 
prayer, shared the general appreciation of the 
value of the fleeting moments ; and his petition 
had the merit of brevity." 

The chair announced at the conclusion of the 
prayer, that during the balloting he would not 
allow any delay, debate, or tricks by changing 
votes, after they were once cast. Hale opened 
the business of the day by moving, that the Con- 
vention proceed to ballot. Conkling seconded 
the motion ; and the roll-call was begun amid a 
silence, that showed the intense anxiety. The re- 
sult was announced by the secretaries as follows : 
Grant, 304; Blaine, 284; Sherman, 93 ; Edmunds, 
34; Washburne, 30; Windom, 10. 

The incidents of this ballot were few and not 
very remarkable. There was faint applause, 
when Arkansas voted solid for Grant ; but all 
sides joined in hissing it down. When Pixley an- 
nounced California's vote for Blaine in a dramatic 
fashion, and with a sentence thrown in for the gal- 
leries, the President notified the chairmen of dele- 
gations, that no comment of any kind would be 
allowed. Conkling announced the vote of New 
York: "Two votes are reported for Sherman, 



BALLOTING. 



429 



seventeen for Blaine, and fifty-one are for Grant." 
Ohio threw a wet blanket on the Sherman men 
by casting nine votes for Blaine. General Beaver 
thundered out: "Pennsylvania votes thirty-two 
for Grant, twenty-three for Blaine, and three for 
Sherman." After this there was but litde interest ; 
and the ballot closed in the most orderly manner. 
As soon as the vote was announced, the chair 
ordered another, holding that nothing was in 
order but voting. The second ballot, and the 
third, and the fourth were uneventful. The changes 
in these and the succeeding ones of the afternoon 
were very slight, except the nomination of Gar- 
field by a vote from Grier (Pennsylvania), made 
without any pardcular idea of permanency. A 
recess was several times proposed, but voted 
down. The last ballot of the morning-session 
was the eighteenth. Immediately after the an- 
nouncement of it, a recess was ordered until 
seven o'clock. 

The evening-session opened rather noisily; and 
there was some slight trouble in keeping order. 
The announcement of the first ballot of this ses- 
sion was greeted by the Sherman men with cheers, 
who saw that their candidate was gaining on 
Blaine. The Grant men held their own, and 
showed a determinadon to stand by their candi- 
date to the last. After the twenty-seventh ballot, 
Morse (Massachusetts) proposed an adjournment 
dll the next morning. It was nearly half-past 
36* 



M^Q THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

nine ; and the hall was excessively hot. Not less 
than twelve thousand people were watching the 
progress of the balloting. At the conclusion of 
each call, while the secretaries were footing up the 
totals, this immense audience would with one 
accord rise to obtain rest by change of position. 
This movement was suggestive of the distant roar 
of a coming storm. Morse's motion to adjourn 
was withdrawn ; and another ballot was ordered. 
Then a motion to adjourn was carried by 446 to 
'^oy, and the Convention at ten P. M., adjourned 
till the next morning. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



THE people's choice. 



THE Convention had now been In session 
five days ; and the result had not been 
reached. All Chicago rose on June 8th 
with a settled wish, that that day might end the 
contest ; and the delegates believed that it would. 
General Garfield came forth from the Grand Pacific, 
arm-in-arm with his friend, Governor Foster of 
Ohio. The suspicion, that he would before night- 
fall be the nominee of the Party, never entered 
his mind. 

" I think, Charlie," said Garfield, " we shall get 
through with this business of president-making, 
to-day." 

" Yes," returned Foster, " the delegates are all 
getting tired and want to go home." 

" I am quite sure they will select a candi- 
date before another adjournment," continued 
Garfield. 

" I hope it will be our man," answered Foster. 

" Honest John Sherman will be nominated ; and 
again Ohio will be made proud by the work of the 
Convention." 

CC (431) 



^^2 ^-^-^ Z//^£• OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

" Amen," said Foster. " Let us all take heart 
and work." 

" Yes, that Is the word," cried Garfield. "Work ! 
work! work!" 

As Garfield turned a corner, one of the hundreds 
of people, who were thrusting advertisements, into 
the hands of passers-by, pressed a little piece of 
paper upon him, which he accepted mechanically. 
His eye caught "Acts iv, ii, 12." Reluctant to 
throw away a Bible-leaf, he folded it up, put it in 
his pocket, and continued his walk. Had he read it, 
the spirit ofits prophecy would doubtless have struck 
him : " This is the stone which is set at nought 
of you builders, which is become the head of the 
corner. Neither is there salvation in any other : 
for there is none other name under heaven given 
among men, whereby we must be saved." 

It was only the result of the Convention, that 
gave this curious coincidence any value. 

When the Convention was opened, the rever- 
end gentleman, who asked the blessing of the 
Almighty, prayed, that the delegates might soon 
be restored to their friends. The call of the 
States was then ordered for the twenty-ninth bal- 
lot. The result of it is given in this chapter in 
the tabular statement of all the ballots of the con- 
vention. There were some indications, as the 
thirtieth ballot progressed, that the lesser candi- 
dates were giving way. Great amusement was 
created toward its close by the announcement of 



GARFIELD 'S PRO TEST. .-.-s 

one vote from Wyoming- for General Sheridan, 
who was on the stage near the chair. He rose, 
and said, that he was very much obliged, but that 
he couldn't take the nomination, unless he was 
permitted to turn it over to his best friend. The 
galleries understood this reference, because Sher- 
idan's best friend is Grant ; and all the Grant del- 
egates made the best of the opportunity by an 
outburst of enthusiasm, The chair also under- 
stood it, and said, that, while the distinguished 
soldier had been given permission to interrupt 
the order of the Convention, it would be granted 
to no one else. The next ballot demonstrated, 
that the Convention was on the edee of a break. 
The close of the thirty-fourth ballot was marked 
with excitement, when Wisconsin cast fourteen 
votes for Garfield. When the result was declared, 
Garfield rose and addressed the chair. The 
chairman inquired for what purpose the gentle- 
man rose. 

"To a question of order," said Garfield. 

**The gentleman will state it," said the chair. 

"I challenge," said Mr. Garfield, " the correct- 
ness of the announcement, that contains votes for 
me. No man has a rio-ht, without the consent of 
the person voted for, to have his name announced 
and voted for in this Convention. Such consent 
I have not oriven." 

This was overruled by the chair. The thirty- 



.-^A THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

4vD4 

fifth ballot proved more interesting than any pre- 
vious one. The call was quickly made ; and the 
people began to be in better spirits. The Blaine 
movement had apparently broken up. The bal- 
lot resulted as follows: Grant, 313 ; Blaine, 257 ; 
Sherman, 99; Garfield, 50; Washburne, 23 ; Ed- 
munds, 1 1 ; Windom, 3. 

The call for the thirty-sixth ballot began amidst 
considerable excitement. A delegate thus de- 
scribed it: "Connecticut led off on this ballot with 
eleven votes for Garfield. The most of the Wash- 
burne vote of Illinois followed this ; and, when In- 
diana was called, General Harrison cast twenty- 
nine of her thirty votes for Garfield. The storm 
at this point broke, * ■'•' * * The confusion 
had not fairly subsided when Iowa followed with 
twenty-two votes for Garfield, and the outburst 
was renewed and gained in force with every fresh 
start. A little further down Maine, cast her four- 
teen votes for the Ohio man, and the cheering was 
greater than ever. The confusion was so great 
that it was almost impossible to go on with the 
call. The delegations ^of Maryland, Massachu- 
setts, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi each 
insisted on an individual roll-call ; and the Blaine 
and Sherman votes nearly all turned up for Gar- 
field. * * * * Ohio was finally called. The 
delegation had been thrown into confusion, and It 
was some time in getting around, but it finally 



« THE BATTLE-CR Y OF FREEDOM:' /i -. :- 

turned up with forty-three for Garfield, the missing 
delegate being Garfield himself The Convention 
relapsed into cheers again, but recovered in a mo- 
ment to hear General Beaver announce the Penn- 
sylvania vote as thirty-seven for Grant, twenty-one 
for Garfield, '•' ''' ^ "^^ As the call went on, 
as well as it could in the confusion, the Blaine del- 
egates wheeled into Line for Garfield, Vermont 
w^as wildly cheered when the ten Edmunds votes 
swung around ; and Wisconsin's eighteen follow- 
ing shortly after, gave the man from Ohio a major- 
ity of the whole number. 

"The thousands had kept tally and knew this. 
There was a momentary hush, as if the seven or 
eight thousand people were taking breath ; and 
then the storm burst; and, while the cheering 
went on, the banners of the several States were 
borne to the place, where Ohio's delegation sat, 
Garfield in the midst of them; and there was a 
scene almost equal to that of midnight on Fri- 
day. The band was playing "The Battle-Cry of 
Freedom" at the lower end of the hall; and, when 
the cheerinor subsided for a moment, the air was 
taken up and sung in chorus by thousands of 
voices. This went on for a quarter of an hour, 
during which time Conkling sat in his place at the 
head of his delegation without show of emotion of 
any sort. Efforts were made to get Garfield out; 
but he remained hidden in the midst of his Ohio 
friends," 



436 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



This was the thirty-sixth and last ballot, which 
completed a remarkable series of votes. They are 



here Qfiven in details : 



Ballot. 



S t 



« 



1 304 284 

2 305 282 

3 305 282 

4 305 2S1 

5 305 2S1 

6 305 280 

7 3C5 281 

8 306 284 

9 308 282 

10 305 282 

II 305 281 

12 304 283 

13 305 285 

14 305 285 

15 309 281 

16 306 2S3 

17 303 284 

18 305 283 

19 305 279 

20 308 276 

21 305 276 

22 305 275 

23. 304 275 

24 305 279 

25 302 281 

26 303 280 

27 306 277 

28 307 279 

29 305 278 

30 306 279 

31 308 276 

32 309 270 

33 309 276 

34 312 275 

35 313 257 

36 306 42 



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31 


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: 



At the announcement of Garfield's nomination, 
the people again stood on the benches to hurrah 



CONFIRMED UXAXIMOUSL Y. 



437 



and shout. During the confusion Logan rose, and 
sought to catch the eye of the President. Conk- 
Hng was standing in the aisle for the same pur- 
pose. As soon as order was restored, the latter 
was recognized, and in a husky voice said: 

"Mr. Chairman: James A. Garfield of Ohio, 
having received a majority of all the votes cast, I 
rise to move, that he be unanimously presented 
as the nominee of the Convention. The chair, 
under the rules, anticipated me; but, being on my 
feet, I avail myself of the opportunity to congratu- 
late the Republican party of the nation on the 
good-natured and well-tempered disposition, which 
has distinguished this animated Convention. * 

=••■ * I trust that the zeal, the fervor, and now 
the unanimity of the scenes of the Convention 
will be transplanted to the field of the country, 
and that all of us, who have borne a part against 
each other, will be found, with equal zeal bearing 
the banners and carrying the lances of the Re- 
publican party into the ranks of the enemy." 
[Applause.] 

As he sat down, John A. Logan arose and 
spoke : 

" Gentlemen of the Convention : We are to 
be congratulated at havinor arrived at a conclusion 
in respect to presenting the name of a candidate 
to be the standard-bearer of the Republican party 
for President of the United States in union and 
harmony with each other. * * * I, with 



43S 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



the friends of one of the grandest men on the face 
of the earth, stood here to fight a friendly battle 
for his nomination ; but this Convention has 
chosen another leader, and the men who stood by 
Grant will be seen in the front of the contest for 
Mr. Garfield. We will go forward in the contest, 
not with tied hands, not with sealed lips, not with 
bridled tongues, but to speak the truth in favor of 
the grandest party that has ever been organized 
in this country, to maintain its principles, to up- 
hold its power, to preserve its ascendency ; and 
my judgment is, that with the leader, whom you 
have chosen, victory will perch on our banners. 
As one of the Republicans from Illinois, I second 
the nomination of James A. Garfield, and hope it 
will be made unanimous." 

Two of the senatorial triumvirate had now 
spoken. Pennsylvania was wanted to complete it. 
General Beaver a minute later rose, and addressed 
the vast gathering : 

"The State of Pennsylvania having had the 
honor of first nominating in this Convention the 
gentleman, who has been chosen as the standard- 
bearer of the Republican party in the approaching 
national contest, I rise to second the motion, which 
has been made, to make the nomination unani- 
mous, and to assure this Convention and the peo- 
ple of the country that Pennsylvania is heartily in 
accord with the nomination, that she gives her full 
concurrence to it, and that this country may ex- 



ARTHUR NOMIXATED. ^-g 

pect from her the greatest majority that has been 
given for a Presidential candidate in many years." 

Then Hale, the leader of the Blaine forces, 
spoke for his friends : 

"Standing here to return our heartfelt thanks 
to the many men in this Convention, who have 
aided us in the fight, that we made for the sena- 
tor from Maine, and speaking for them here, as I 
know that I do, I say this most heartily. * * * 
The nominee of this Convention is no new or un- 
tried man ; and in that respect he is no ' dark- 
horse.' When he came here representing his 
State in the front of his delegation, and was seen 
here, every man knew him, because of his record ; 
and because of that, and because of our faith in 
him, and because we were, In the emergency, glad 
to help make him the candidate of the Republican 
party for President of the United States ; because 
I say, of these things, I stand here to pledge the 
Maine forces in this Convention to earnest ef- 
forts, from now until the ides of November, to 
help carry him to the Presidential chair." 

The nomination was then made unanimous, 
amid the wildest excitement ; and at half-past 
two a recess was taken until five P. M. The 
evening session was short, resulting in the nom- 
ination of Chester A. Arthur, of New York, for 
the Vice Presidency ; and the Convention ad- 
journed i"z«^ die after one of the most gigantic po- 
litical struggles ever recorded. 



440 ^-^^ ^^^^ ^^^ PRE SID EAT GARFIELD. 

Mr. George W. Rose, who was a private sten- 
ographer of General Garfield, and who was tempo- 
rarily occupying the general's house in Washing- 
ton, relates the following curious incident: 

' On the day of the general's nomination for 
President, at about the very moment of 'absolute 
time '(as the Signal Service Bureau would say) 
that the nomination was made (allowing for the 
difference in longitude between here and Chicago) 
a magnificent bald eagle, after circling round the 
Park, swooped down and rested on the general's 
house. One of my children was playing out of 
doors at the time, and ran in to call the attention 
of the family to this striking spectacle. Several 
of the family and myself went out, and saw the 
source of the child's wonder. Before the eagle 
rose from its strange perch, a dozen people noticed 
and commented upon it. An old Roman would 
have seen in this an augury of the most inspiring 
character. But we Americans are free from su- 
perstitions, and so it was a mere 'coincidence.'" 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

HOW IT HAPPENED, AND WHAT WAS SAID OF IT. 

THE nomination of General Garfield was an 
entirely spontaneous movement. He was 
not put in nomination with any thunders of 
eloquence ; he had no long list of politicians to 
urge and manage his candidacy. When his name 
was first mentioned in connection with the office, 
he caused the following to be publishe4 in the 
Cleveland Herald : 

" We are authorized to say that all statements 
made either in the press or by private persons, 
that General Garfield bas changed his views in re- 
gard to the canvass of Secretary Sherman for the 
Presidency, are absolutely without foundation. 
General Garfield is not, and will not be, a candi- 
date for President, and stands squarely and flatly 
upon his letter, recommending the Republicans of 
Ohio to give their united vote in favor of John 
Sherman for President. He believes that Mr. 
Sherman is the choice of a large majority of the 
party in the State, and that the highest political 
wisdom and best interests of the Republicans will 
be advanced by sending a unanimous delegation 
from Ohio in his favor. We do not make this 
statement, because we needed any assurance, that 

37* (441) 



A A ^ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

General Garfield was the firm and devoted friend 
of Mr. Sherman, or that he had changed his views 
of the propriety and fitness of Mr. Sherman's 
nomination ; but as so many statements have 
been made and telegraph specials printed, calcu- 
lated to mislead the public, we desire to put the 
whole question at rest by an authoritative state- 
ment." 

Durino- the voting in the Convention little men- 
tion was made of Garfield's name until the thirty- 
fourth balloting, when Wisconsin headed the mo^^e, 
which resulted in his nomination. 

A day or two after the great event an intimate 
friend of the nominee related how it happened : 

" It was manifest from the start that Garfield 
was a favorite with a large majority of them. It 
was also noticed that leading visitors at the Con- 
vention were talking in that direction. Four days 
previous to the great upheaval. Judge Hoar, one 
of the best informed men in the country, and 
who had a large personal acquaintance among the 
delegates, remarked: 'If the delegates were walled 
up separately and allowed no communication with 
each other, following out the custom at the Vati- 
can in electing a pope, voting a secret ballot, 
General Garfield would receive two-thirds of the 
votes of the delegates present." The friends of 
the several candidates, of whom there properly 
were three, seemed to lead out each with the firm 
conviction, that by a long trial there would occur 



GOIXG OVER TO GARFIELD. a a -^ 

44j 

a break among the others. It became apparent, 
that the contest would be one simply of endurance. 
* * * '"'* Blaine, Washburne and other 
anti-Grant men came to Garfield's friends hourly 
and said: * Why don't you Ohio men take up Gar- 
field? We will vote for him.' In every instance 
they were met with the reply : ' We have come to 
urge the claims of John Sherman for the nomina- 
tion. We believe him a strong candidate.' The 
Blaine men said: 'Why ask us to turn to Sher- 
man? W^e are more than three times your num- 
ber. You, who believe with us, that it would 
be unwise to nominate General Grant, should 
unite with us and nominate Mr. Blaine.' The 
Sherman men counseled among themselves, and 
concluded to hold out still longer. Finally, on the 
day preceding the final break, the Wisconsin dele- 
gates came to the Ohio men in a state of excite- 
ment and determination, and said : ' If you Ohio 
delegates will not brino- out General Garfield, we 
shall ! ' Some of the Ohio people were anxious 
to do this, but under the circumstances simply re- 
plied : ' Garfield is a great favorite in Ohio ; and 
nothing would please us more than to vote for 
him ; but, as we came here to urofe the nomination 
of Mr. Sherman, we shall use all honorable means 
to secure that end.' x\t one or two ballots on the 
following morning it became plain, that something 
was about to occur, and the Convention had 
reached the beginning of the end. =i: * * 



444 '^^^ ^^^^ ^^ PRES-IDENT GARFIELD. 

Wisconsin's response, ' Fourteen votes for James 
A. Garfield,' caused a ripple of surprise and joy to 
sweep over the faces of the delegates ; and the 
cheers from the gallery demonstrated Garfield's 
popularity in that vast audience. "^ -^ * As the 
Convention took a recess previous to nominating^- 
the Vice-President, a great crowd gathered at the 
outer door; and it was with the utmost difficulty, 
that General Garfield gained a carriage. An inci- 
dent occurring there is worthy of publication. 
As Garfield entered the carriage in company with 
Governor Foster the crowd surged around in a 
state of intense enthusiasm, and shouted: 'Take 
off the horses ; we will pull the carriage.' The 
driver, who at the time was not aware whom he 
was carrying, whipped up to get away from the 
men, who had already commenced to unfasten the 
harness. He cleared the space several feet, but 
was overhauled again ; and the dazed driver, now 
thoroughly frightened, applied his whip with re- 
newed energy, and clearing the crowd, pushed for 
the Palmer House." 

During the first minutes after the result, and 
while yet the general was busy shaking hands 
with the hundreds around him, he turned to a 
correspondent of the Cleveland Herald, and said : 
"I wish you would say, that this is no act of mine. 
I wish you would say, that I have done everything, 
and omitted nothing, to secure Secretary Sher- 
man's nomination. I want it plainly understood, 



REJOICINGS. 



445 



that I have not sought this nomination, and have 
protested against the use of my name. If Sen- 
ator Hoar had permitted, I would have forbidden 
anybody to vote for uie. But he took me off my 
feet, before I had said what I intended. I am very 
sorry it has occurred; but, if my position is fully 
explained, a nominadon, coming unsought and 
unexpected like this, will be the crowning gratifi- 
cation of my life." 

The news, telegraphed from Chicago, sent a 
thrill of pleasure through the land. About forty 
telegrams reached the nominee, before he left the 
Convention-hall ; and, before he slept that night, 
more than a thousand more had winged their way 
to him. The President, every member of his 
Cabinet, Senator Blaine, and hosts of other dis- 
tinguished characters in the councils of the nation 
telegraphed most candid congratulations. 

The National House of Representatives, on 
the last day of the Convention, was occupied with 
a discussion on the erection of a public building ; 
and a motion to adjourn was made. During the 
calling of the roll a great deal of excitement was 
manifested by the members over the Convention- 
news. When Garfield's name was called, it was 
greeted with applause on both the Republican 
and the Democratic side. The announcement, 
which came in soon afterward, that Garfield had 
been nominated, was received with such loud 
cheers and applause from the members, who had 



446 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



assembled in the lobby back of the Speaker's 
desk, that the roll-call was interrupted. Members 
gathered in groups and discussed the nomination 
of Garfield, which appeared to meet with almost 
universal approval . from the Republicans, and 
which was conceded by the Democrats to be a 
strone one. The second call of Garfield's name 
was the signal for a burst of applause from the 
Republicans. The motion was finally carried; 
and the House at half-past two adjourned, amid 
great excitement. 

Cheers for Garfield were then given ; and 
cries of " Speech from Hawley," and " Hawley 
for Vice President" were heard, to which that 
gentleman did not respond. Robeson's motion, 
that Hawley should take the chair, was unani- 
mously carried amid cheers. When Hawley 
took the chair, the House presented a curious 
sight. Every chair on the fioor was occupied^ 
the seats of the absent members being filled by 
spectators, who, upon the adjournment, had 
crowded into the Hall ; and in the rear of the 
seats were groups of excited men. 

Speeches from Hawley, Robeson and Kelley 
followed, and at last, amid tumultuous applause, 
it was unanimously voted to appoint a committee 
to telegraph the congratulations of the House to 
the nominee. 

The chair appointed Kelley, Robeson, Browne, 
Martin, Pa^e, Richardson and Henderson as the 



COMMENTS OF THE PRESS. mmm 

committee to send this congratulatory telegram to 
General Garfield. 

The happiness of the people was everywhere 
echoed by the press. The New York Tribune 
said: 

" With its best judgment the Tribune approves, 
with its heartiest enthusiasm the Tribune applauds, 
the work of the Chicago Convention, With what- 
ever power it possesses, it will commend that work 
to the people, and labor unceasingly for a tri- 
umphant ratification at the polls." 

The Bosto7i Advertiser, representing the best 
element of the Republican party in New England, 
thus spoke for its constitutents : 

"The Republican party has a candidate for Presi- 
dent, of whom it may be proud — a man of abil- 
ity, experience and conscience. The nomination 
of General Garfield cannot be two heartily wel- 
comed by all, who have the good of the party and 
of the country at heart, not merely as the most 
satisfactory solution of the situation, that was much 
to be regretted, but of one thoroughly good in 
itself." 

The New York Times which had supported 
Grant, took this position : 

" The Chicago Convention has followed sundry 
familiar precedents in failing to select the strong- 
est of the candidates presented to it. But from 
the second rank of available Republicans it has 

made a ver)' excellent choice, and one, which has 
DD 



448 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



the great merit of uniting all sections of the party 
for a harmonious, aggressive and probably suc- 
cessful campaign. James A. Garfield has been 
too long in public life to have escaped injurious 
allegations against his personal character and bit- 
ter attacks upon his polidcal course ; but he is 
strong in his freedom from intrigue to gain the 
nomination, and in being able to accept it abso- 
lutely free from disreputable alliances or embar- 
rassing pledges." 

The Cincinnati Gazette voiced Ohio : 
" It was the nomination of a man of na- 
tional reputation, whose ability has earned him the 
recognized place of leader of the House of Rep- 
resentatives — of a man, than whom no one could 
better harmonize all the contending facdons in the 
Conventions — a man, who is the peer of any ; who 
is himself a part of all that is good and glorious 
in the history of the Republican party ; who de- 
serves all the honor, that belongs to the patriotic 
and successful soldier; who was a statesman, 
thoroughly identified with all civil Institutions, 
before he left a successful political career to serve 
his country in war ; and who has in his charac- 
ter and public services as much of those qualities, 
which draw the intelligent enthusiasm of the peo- 
ple for the man they have chosen for a leader, as 
any man, whom either of the several pardes in 
the Convendon could have named. Therefore do 
we hail the nomination, as a great deliverance, and 



COMMENTS OF THE PRESS. ^^g 

as a regenerating- triumph for the RepubHcan 
party." 

The Chicago Times expressed this opinion : 

" In the language of the pohticians, the nomi- 
nation of Mr. Garfield is a strong one, an uncom- 
monly strong one. It is one, that brings together 
and unites all the lately hostile factions of the 
party, and removes all the bitterness, engendered 
by the fierce contest among rival aspirants, that 
must have had effect on the result, had the nom- 
ination fallen to any one of them." 

The Chicago Tribune, which had strongly advo- 
cated Blaine, answered for the country in this 
way : " From one end of the nation to the other, 
from distant Oregon to Texas, from Maine to 
Arizona, lightning has informed the country of 
the nomination yesterday of General James A. 
Garfield, as the Republican candidate for the 
Presidency. Never was a nomination made, 
which has been received by friend and foe with 
such evidence of hearty respect, admiration and 
confidence. The applause is universal. Even 
the Democratic House of Representatives sus- 
pended its business, that it might congratulate 
the country upon the nomination of the distin- 
guished leader of the Republicans. James Abram 
Garfield is. In the popular mind, one of the fore- 
most statesmen of the nation." 

In the other centres of political and social life 
of the land, the same flattering reception was ac- 

38 



450 



THE LIFE OF FRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



corded the ticket. Many distinguished men 
spoke of it heartily, commending the statesman at 
its head. We have not, unfortunately, space to 
print what was said. The nominee's old com- 
mander, General Rosecrans, remarked on hearing 
the news : " I consider General Garfield head and 
shoulders above any of the men named before the 
Convention, and far superior to any of the political 
managers upon the floor. He is a man with broad 
views, has always been a consistent Republican, 
and has a clean record. I cannot believe, that 
James A. Garfield was ever guilty of a dishonest 
act. As the campaign progresses, it will be found, 
if it is not now acknowledged, that Garfield is a 
hard man to beat." 

W. D. Howells, the former editor of the Atla7ttic 
Monthly, wrote to a friend ; " Among all the 
classes, whom his nomination has gratified, I think 
the literary class is first. We feel, that all the 
good things, which the Hayes administration has 
done for humanity and civilization, will find their 
continuance and furtherance in his, and that he 
will perpetuate the order of perfect honesty, in- 
telligence, and decency, which Mr. Hayes has 
established in public life. I may tell you, that 
Mr. Longfellow has repeatedly expressed his plea- 
sure in Garfield's nomination. I had once the 
fortune to bring them together; and Mr. Long- 
fellow was strongly impressed with the fine and 



REJOICING AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE. ^rj 

generous qualities, mental and moral, which every 
one recognizes in the candidate of our party." 

At Williams College the students were wild 
over the nomination. Within twenty-four hours 
after the result was announced, the first Garfield 
club in the Union was orcranlzed with a member- 

o 

ship of three hundred. A ratification meeting 
was held In the evening; and the students sang, 
as a chorus to "Marching through Georgia," the 
folio wlno-; 

o 

"Hurrah! huiTah! we'll shout for General G.I 
Hurrah! hurrah! a Williams man was he, 
And so we'll sing the chorus from old Williams to the sea. 
And we'll cast a vote for General Garfield." 

It will further interest the reader to examine die 
following analysis of General Garfield's mental 
characteristics, taken from the New York yoicrjial 
of Phi'enology : 

James A. Garfield is a man of very strong physical consti- 
tution, with broad shoulders, deep chest and a good nutritive 
system, which serve to sustain with ample vigor his uncom- 
monly large brain : standing fully six feet high, and weighing 
220 pounds. The head, which is twenty-four inches in cir- 
cumference, seems to be very long from front to rear ; and 
then the length seems extreme from the centre of the ear to 
the root of the nose. It is also long from the opening of the 
ear backwards. The whole back-head is large, and the social 
group amply indicated ; but the reader will observe the ex- 
treme length anterior to the opening of the ears, especially 
across the lower part of the forehead, in which are located the 
organs of perceptive intellect — those which gather and re- 



.^2 '^^^^ ^^^^ OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

tain knowledge, and bring a man into quick sympathy with 
the external world, and also with the world of facts, as de- 
veloped in science and literature. 

Perhaps there are not two men in a hundred thousand, 
who are intelligent and educated, who will see as much and 
take into account so many of the j^rinciples involved in what 
he sees, as the subject before us. Nothing escapes his at- 
tention ; he remembers things in their elements, their quali- 
ties and peculiarities, such as form, size and color. He would 
make an excellent judge of the size of articles, and also of their 
weight, by simple observation. He has a talent for natural 
science, especially chemistry and natural philosophy. His 
memory, indicated by the fullness in the middle of the 
forehead, is enormously developed, aiding him in retaining 
vividly all the impressions, that are worth recalling. 

The superiors portion of the forehead is developed more 
prominently in the analogical than in the logical. His chief 
intellectual force is in the power to elucidate and make sub- 
jects clear. Hence he is able to teach to others, whatever he 
knows himself. • 

He has the talent for reading character. Hence he ad- 
dresses himself to each individual according to his peculiar 
characteristics, and reaches results in the readiest and best 
way. His language is rather largely indicated. He would 
be known more for specific compactness than for an ornate 
and elaborate style, because he goes as directly as possible 
from the premises to the conclusion, and never seems to forget 
the point at issue. 

The side-head is well developed in the region of Order, Con- 
structiveness. Sense of the beautiful and the grand. It is also 
strongly marked in the region of Combativeness and Destruc- 
tiveness, which give force and zealous earnestness in the 
prosecution of that, which he attempts to do. He is able to 
compel himself to be thorough, and to hold his mind and his 
efforts in the direction required, until he has made himself 
master of the subject. Industry is one of his strong traits. 



PIJKEXOLOCICAL MAKKS. 



45. 



He is firm, positive, determined; aid the middle of the 
top-head indicates strong religious tendency. We seldom see 
so large Veneration. He is devout, respectful toward what- 
ever he thinks sacred, whether it relates to religion or to sub- 
ordinate topics ; he would reverence ancient places made 
memorable in story and song: he is respectful to the aged, 
polite to his equals, and especially generous and friendly to 
those, who are his inferiors in age or culture. Thus young 
men and even children have ready access to him by invitation 
and permission. His strong social affection makes his face 
and his voice a standing invitation toward confidence, and 
he has great familiarity in his treatment of the young. 

His method of studying subjects is instinctive. He con- 
siders all the facts, every condition, that will be brought into 
question; and combining these by means of his logical force, 
his conclusions seem clear, are vigorously stated, and influ- 
ential. He has a strong physiognomy. That broad and high 
cheek bone indicates vital power ; that strong nose indicates 
determination, courage and positiveness ; the fullness of the 
lips shows warmth of affection and of sympathy. 

There are few men, who are as well adapted to compre- 
hend the length and depth and details of business, and hold 
their knowledge, where it will be ready for use, when it is re- 
quired. Hence, as a lawyer or statesman, he should be able 
to impart to people his knowledge effectively and exhaustively, 
whenever required. He is naturally qualified to be master of 
turbulent men, and to meet force by force, and to stand 
his ground in the midst of hardships, difificulties and opposi- 
tion. 

38* 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



A TOUR OF TRIUMPH. 



FROM the hall of the Convention the tide 
of congratulation followed General Gar- 
field to his hotel. It had been announced, 
that he would leave Chicago for home at five 
o'clock P. M. ; and Major Butterworth was as- 
signed the duty of arranging a procession to es- 
cort him to the station. Wisconsin, the first State 
to break for him, volunteered cheerfully ; and the 
thousands of Ohioans in town were no less ready. 
Everything had been arranged, when it was ascer- 
tained, that he had decided to stay until morning. 
To avoid the press of congratulations, he en- 
o-ao-ed parlors on another corridor, the knowl- 
edge of which was confined to a few. The Wis- 
consin delegates, however, became apprised of it ; 
and soon a throng, hundreds strong, was march- 
ing through the rooms for the purpose of shaking 
hands with the distinguished man, who was the 
centre of all interest. One of the Ohio men 
among the throng came, wearing the red badge, 
which had already been struck off bearing the 
words : " For President, James A. Garfield." 
The wearer called the general's attention to it. 
" That reminds me of a saying of Holmes," he 

(454) . 



COXGRA TULA TIONS. 



455 



said. " He wrote, that three things require age — , 
wine, meerschaum pipes and poetry. That badge 
might be added to the Hst. It's too new yet. I 
can't realize it." When asked, if he would re- 
spond to the demands for a speech, he said ; 
" There is not power enough in Chicago to draw 
a speech out of me to-day." 

In the evening, after the second place on the 
ticket had been filled, in deference to the wishes 
of many delegates, he held a reception, A magni- 
ficent array of flowers was upon the table, beside 
which he stood for an hour. The flow of con- 
gratulations was unceasing, many ladies in elabo- 
rate evening-toilet adding brilliancy to the event, 
and vying with the men in the fervor of their de- 
clarations of satisfaction. In accepting the con- 
oratulations, the general bore himself with quiet 
dignity, seldom extending his replies beyond the 
hope, that the nomination would prove acceptable 
to the Republican Party and the country. Later 
a serenade was tendered him, for which he merely 
bowed his thanks. 

Near midnight, Senator Hoar, at the head of 
the committee appointed to notify General Gar- 
field, appeared at the Grand Pacific. After offi- 
cially informing him of his nomination, they re- 
ceived the following reply: 

" Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : I assure you, 
that the information you have officially given to 
me brings the sense of very grave responsibility, 



45^ 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



and especially so in view of the fact, that I was a 
member of your body, a fact that could not have 
existed with propriety, had I had the slightest ex- 
pectation, that my name would be connected with 
the nomination for the office. I have felt with you 
g-reat solicitude concerning the situation of our 
party during the struggle ; but believing that you 
are correct in assuring me, that substantial unity 
has been reached in the conclusion, it gives me a 
gratification far greater than any personal pleasure 
your announcement can bring. I accept the trust 
committed to my hands. As to the work of our 
party, and as to the character of the campaign to 
be entered upon, I will take an early occasion to 
reply more fully, than I can properly do to-night. 
I thank you for the assurances of confidence and 
esteem you have presented to me, and hope we 
shall see our future as promising as are the indi- 
cations to-niofht." 

The next mornino^ he started for home. From 
the hotel to the station he had an incessant ova- 
tion. He went to Cleveland in a special car, ac- 
companied by a number of intimate personal 
friends. At Laporte (Indiana), the first stopping- 
place of any consequence, many hundreds of peo- 
ple, with a brass band, had collected to salute 
him, as he passed. When Governor Foster in- 
troduced him, he was received with deafening 
cheers. At South Bend, at Elkhart, at Goshen, 
at Kendalville, at Waterloo and at Butler, these 



RECEPTION A T 11 IK AM. .r^ 

scenes were repeated; and at every station in 
Ohio he received the same reception. An im- 
mense demonstration awaited his arrival at Cleve- 
land. The whole city was wild with a glad en- 
thusiasm. Among his first callers was Hon. H. 
W. Payne, a prominent candidate of the National 
Democratic Convention of 1880 at Cincinnati. 

Just before he left for Chicago, he had promised 
to deliver an address at the Commencement-exer- 
cises of Hiram Colleore. The morninof after his 
arrival In Cleveland he journeyed quietly to the 
little village of Hiram, where he had been bell- 
ringer, student, professor, and president. There 
he met his wife, for the first time since the acquire- 
ment of his latest and greatest honor — at the very 
house, where their acquaintance began. It was a 
touching meeting with his wife, his children, the 
students, and his old friends. Baring his head, 
the ereat statesman said: 

"Fellow-citizens, Old Neighbors and Friends 
OF Many Years: It has always given me pleasure 
to come back here and look upon these faces. It 
has always given me new courage and new 
friends; for It has brought back a large share of 
that richness, which belongs to those things, out 
of which come the joys of life. 

:i: * :=: :•: H: 

" If the Superior Being of the universe would 
look down upon the world to find the most Inte- 
resting object. It would be the unfinished, unformed 



460 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



character of the young man or young- woman. 
Those behind me have probably, in the main, set- 
tled this question. Those, who have passed into 
middle manhood and middle womanhood, are 
about what they always will be, and there is but 
little left of interest, as their characters are de- 
veloped. But to your young and your yet un- 
formed natures, no man knows the possibilities, 
that lie before you in your hearts and intellects; 
and, while you are working out the possibilities 
with that splendid leisure that you need, you are 
to be most envied. I congratulate you on your 
leisure. I commend you to treat it as your gold, 
as your wealth, as your treasure, out of which 
you can draw all possible treasures, that can be 
laid down, when you have your natures unfolded 
and developed in the possibilities of the future. 

" This place is too full of memories for me to 
trust myself to speak upon them ; and I will not. 
But I draw again to-day, as I have for a quarter 
of a century, life, evidence of strength, confidence 
and affection from the people, who gather in this 
place. I thank you for the permission to see you, 
and meetyou,andgreetyou,asI have done to-day." 

After a few days of rest at his winter-home, he 
journeyed to Washington, and everywhere along 
the route was received with enthusiasm. The night 
after he arrived, he was serenaded at his hotel. 
In response to the cheers, which his presence 
evoked from the crowd, he said : 



SPEECH A T WASHING TON. 



463 



" Fellow-citizens : While I have looked upon 
this great array, I beheve I have gotten a new idea 
of the majesty of the American people. When I 
reflect, that, wherever you find sovereign power, 
every reverent heart on this earth bows before it ; 
and when I remember, that here, for a hundredyears, 
we have denied the sovereignty of any man, and in 
place of it have asserted the sovereignty of all in 
place of one, I see before me so vast a concourse, 
that It Is easy for me to imagine, that the rest of 
the American people are gathered here to-night ; 
and if they were all here, every man would stand 
uncovered, all in unsandaled feet, in presence of 
the majesty of the only sovereign power in this 
Government under Almighty God. And, there- 
fore, to this great audience I pay the respectful 
homage, that in part belongs to the sovereignty of 
the people. I thank you for this great and glorious 
demonstration. I am not, for one moment, misled 
into believing, that it refers to so poor a thing as 
one of our number. I know It means your reve- 
rence for your Government, your reverence for its 
laws, your reverence for Its Institutions, and your 
compliment to one, who Is placed for a moment 
In relations to you of peculiar Importance. For 
all these reasons I thank you. ''' '^' '^' I wish 
to say, that a large portion of this assemblage 
to-night are my comrades, late of the war for the 
Union. For them I can speak with entire pro- 
priety, and can say, that these very streets heard 
EE 



464 



^HE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



the measured tread of your disciplined feet, years 
ago, when the imperiled Republic needed your 
hands and your hearts to save it; and you came 
back with your numbers decimated; but those you 
left behind were immortal and glorified heroes for- 
ever ; and those you brought back came, carrying 
under tattered banners and in bronzed hands the 
ark of the covenant of your Republic in safety out 
of the bloody baptism of the war; and you brought 
it in safety to be saved forever by your valor and 
the wisdom of your brethren, who were at home ; 
and by this you were again added to the great 
civil army of the Republic. I greet you, comrades 
and fellow-soldiers, and the great body of distin- 
guished citizens, who are gathered l:erc to-night, 
who are the strong stay and support of the busi- 
ness, of the prosperity, of the peace, of the civic 
ardor and glory of the Republic ; and I thank you 
for your welcome to-night. It was said in a wel- 
come to one, who came to England to be a part of her 
glory (and all the nation spoke when it was said): 

' Normans and Saxons and Danes are we, 
Lut all of us Danes in our welcome of thee.' 

And we say to-night, of all nations, of all the people, 
soldiers and civilians, there is one name, that welds 
us into one. It is the name of American citizen, 
under the Union, and under the glory of the flag, 
that led us to victory and to peace. For this 
maenlficent welcome I thank you with all there is 
in my heart." 



ADDRESS AT PAIXESVILLE. 



4^^5 



On the night following he was tendered a grand 
banquet. The day after he returned to Mentor 
to rest for a short time. On July 3d, at the dedi- 
cation of the soldiers' monument at Painesville, 
he delivered the following magnificent address : 

" Fellow Citizens: I cannot fail to respond on 
such an occasion, in siorht of such a monument, 
to such a cause sustained by such men. While I 
have listened to what my friend has said, two 
questions have been sweeping through my heart. 
One was, 'What does the monument mean?' and 
the other, ' What will the monument teach ?' Let 
me try, and ask you for a moment to help me 
answer, ' What does the monument mean ?' Oh ! 
the monument means a world of memories, a 
world of deeds, a world of tears, and a world of 
glories. You know, thousands know, what it is 
to offer up your life to the country ; and that is no 
small thing, as every soldier knows. Let me put 
the question to you. For a moment suppose your 
country, in the awfully embodied form of majestic 
law, should stand above you and say: 'I want 
your life. Come up here on the platform, and of- 
fer it.' How many would walk up before that 
majestic presence, and say: 'Here I am, take 
this life and use it for your great needs ?' And 
yet almost two millions of men made that answer ; 
and a monument stands yonder to commemorate 
their answer. That is one of its meanings. But, 
my friends, let me try you a little further. To 
39* 



466 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



give up life is much ; for it is to give up wife, and 
home, and child, and ambition. But let me test 
you this way further. Suppose this awfully ma- 
jestic form should call out to you, and say : ' I ask 
you to give up health, and drag yourself, not dead, 
but half alive, through a miserable existence for 
long years, until you perish and die in your crip- 
pled and hopeless condition. I ask you to volun- 
teer to do that.' It calls for a higher reach of 
patriotism and self-sacrifice ; but hundreds of 
thousands of you soldiers did that. That is what 
the monument means also. But let me ask you 
to go one step further. Suppose your country 
should say : ' Come up here on this platform, and 
in my name, and for my sake, consent to be idiots. 
Consent, that your very brain and intellect shall 
be broken down into hopeless idiocy for my sake.' 
How many could be found to make that venture ? 
And yet there are thousands — and that with their 
eyes wide open to the horrible consequences — 
obeyed that call. 

"And let me tell, how one hundred thou- 
sand of our soldiers were prisoners of war; and 
to many of them, when death was stalking near, 
when famine was climbing up into their hearts, 
and idiocy was threatening all that was left of 
their intellects, the gates of their prison stood 
open every day, if they would quit, desert their 
flag, and enlist under the flag of the enemy; and 
out of one hundred and eighty thousand not two 



ADDRESS AT PAINESVILLE. 



467 



per cent, ever received the liberation from death, 
starvation and all, that might come to them ; but 
they took all these horrors and all these sufferings 
in preference to going back upon the flag of their 
country and the glory of its truth. Great God! 
was ever such measure of patriotism reached by 
any men on this earth before ? That is what your 
monument means. By the subtle chemistry, that 
no man knows, all the blood that was shed by our 
brethren, all the lives that were devoted, all the 
grief that was felt, at last crystalized Itself Into 
granite — rendered Immortal the great truth, for 
which they died ; and It stands there to-day. That 
is what your monument means. 

" Now, what does It teach ? What will It teach? 
Why, I remember the story of one of the old con- 
querors of Greece, who when he had traveled In 
his boyhood over the battle-fields, where Mlltlades 
had won victories and set up trophies, returning, 
said: 'These trophies of Mlltlades will never let 
me sleep.' Why, something had taught him from 
the chiseled stone a lesson, that he could never 
forget; and, fellow-citizens, that silent sentinel, 
that crowned granite column, will look down upon 
the boys, that will walk these streets for genera- 
tions to come, and will not let them sleep when 
their country calls them. More than a bugler 
on the field, — from Its dead lips will go out a call 
that the children of Lake County will hear, after 
tlie grave has covered all us and our immediate 



46J 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDEXT GARFIELD, 



cliildren. That is the teaching of your monument. 
Ihat is its lesson ; and it is the lesson of endu- 
rance for what we believe, the lesson of sacrifices 
for what we think, the lesson of heroism for what 
we mean to sustain ; and that lesson cannot be 
lost to a people like this. It is not a lesson of re- 
venge ; it is not a lesson of wrath ; it is the grand, 
sweet, broad lesson of the immortality of the 
truth, that we hope will soon cover, as with the 
grand Shekinah of light and glory, all parts of this 
Republic from the lakes to the gulf. 

I once entered a house in Massachusetts, where 
over its door were two crossed swords. One had 
been carried by the grandfather of its owner on 
the field of Bunker Hill ; and the other was the 
sword, carried by the English grandsire of the 
wife, on the same field and on the other side of 
the conflict. Under those crossed swords, in the 
restored harmony of domestic peace, lived a happy 
and contented, and free family under the light of 
our republican liberties. I trust the time is not 
far distant, when, under the crossed swords and 
the locked shields of Americans North and South, 
our people shall sleep in peace, and rise In liberty, 
love and harmony, under the union of our flag of 
the Stars and Stripes." 

On the loth of July he wrote to Senator Hoar, 
a formal letter, accepting the nomination. It is an 
earnest statement of the main principles, which 
he had eloquently defended throughout his public 



LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 



469 



career. We quote the following' passage, which 
occurs just alter his assertion, that he cordially 
endorses the platform of the nominating Conven- 
tion : 

I venture, however, to make special mention of some of 
the principal topics, whicli are likely to become subjects of 
discussion, without reviewing the controversies, which have 
been settled during the last twenty years, and with no pur- 
pose or wish to revive the passions of the late war. It should 
be said, that, while Republicans fully recognize, and will 
strenuously defend, all the rights retained by the people and 
all the rights reserved to the States, they reject the pernicious 
doctrine of State supremacy, which so long crippled the 
functions of the National Government and at one time 
brought the Union very near to destruction. They insist 
that the United States is a nation with ample power of self- 
preservation ; that its Constitution and laws made in pursu- 
ance thereof are the supreme law of the land ; that the right 
of the nation to determine the method, by which its own 
legislature shall be created, cannot be surrendered without 
abdicating one of the fundamental powers of the Govern- 
ment ; that the national laws, relating to the election of rep- 
resentatives in Congress, shall neither be violated nor evaded ; 
that every elector shall be permitted freely and without in- 
timidation to cast his lawful ballot at such election, and 
have it honestly counted ; and that the potency of his vote 
shall not be destroyed by the fraudulent vote of any other 
person. The best thoughts and energies of our people 
should be directed to those great questions of national well- 
being, in which we all have a common interest. Such ef- 
forts will soonest restore perfect peace to those, wlio were 
lately in arms against each other, for justice and good-will 
will outlast passion ; but it is certain, that the wounds can- 
not be completely healed, and the spirit of brotherhood can- 
not fully pervade the whole country, until every one of our 



^jQ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

citizens, rich or poor, white or black, is secure in the free 
and equal enjoyment of every civil and political right guar- 
anteed by the Constitution and the laws. Wherever the en- 
joyment of this right is not assured, discontent will prevail, 
immigration will cease, and the social and industrial forces 
will continue to be disturbed by the migration of laborers 
and the consequent diminution of prosperity. The National 
Government should exercise all its constitutional authority 
to put an end to these evils, for all the people and all the 
States are members of one body 3 and no member can suffer 
without injury to all. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



THE MARCH TO VICTORY. 



GENERAL GARFIELD had no sooner 
been nominated, than the plans for the 
campaign, that were to result in liis elec- 
tion, were formed, not by any concerted effort of 
the whole party, not by any council of the leaders 
of each section, but by those, who had determined, 
that Garfield should win. Conkling, Cameron and 
Logan, the great " triumvirate," at first showed 
very little interest in the campaign. Cameron, 
who, in the preceding February, had been elected 
Chairman of the Republican National Committee, 
remained away from its meetings, and refused to 
manage its affairs. Marshall Jewell was chosen 
in his stead. The Republican National Congres- 
sional Committee was organized with Jay Hubbell 
as Chairman, and Edward McPherson as Secre- 
tary. State-committees were formed everywhere ; 
and the Campaign was formally opened by Carl 
Schurz, who delivered a speech at Indianapolis on 
the 20th of July, in which he confined all his efforts 
to supporting the questions of political economy, 
which had been raised and upheld by the Republi- 
can party. The speeches of others, greater and 
humbler, followed fast. Both Blaine and Sherman 

(47 1 j 



A ^2 '^^^ Z/Z'.e' OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

entered earnestly into the work ; but Conkling 
still held aloof. Garfield's friends urged the pro- 
priety and necessity of his endeavoring personally 
to enlist Conkling's services ; but he felt, that it 
would show a lack of dignity and a loss of pres- 
tige to make the first advances. Comprehending 
the situation, he boldly determined to capture the 
State by going among its voters and addressing 
them. The wisdom of this determination was al- 
most immediately apparent. A great Republican 
Conference was called to meet in New York. 
Starting from Mentor August 3rd, he journeyed 
to New York by the way of Erie, Buffalo, Utica 
and Albany, returning by way of Paterson, Port 
Jervis, Binghampton, Chautauqua and Cleveland. 
The entire trip was a magnificent ovation of the 
people. Receptions were accorded him at every 
station ; and thousands fiocked to see him, mani- 
festing their joy by fire-works and cannon, and 
bands, and banners. He reached New York on 
the evening of the 4th, and drove at once to the 
Fifth Avenue Hotel, where rooms had been pre- 
pared for him. 

The Conference, which he came to attend, was 
one of the most notable political gatherings ever 
held in the country. Men of high repute in poli- 
tics and journalism assembled from all quarters. 
Never before had so many gentlemen, distin- 
guished in the annals of the country, been brought 
together on a notice so informal. Their presence- 



CONFEREXCE IN NE W YORK. . ^ -, 

4/ J 

proved beyond question the earnestness of the 
RepubHcan party ; and they showed a determina- 
tion to do everything possible to secure a victory 
in November. The Conference met on the 5th. 
Remarks were made, and counsel and advice 
freely given, by many prominent men. Blaine, 
Logan and Cameron each spoke effectively. The day 
closed appropriately with an imposing demonstra- 
tion by the "Boys in Blue." Never in New York 
was seen a o-reater eatherincr than assembled in 
front of the Fifth Avenue Hotel that night. For 
hours the long procession filed past the hotel with 
deafening cheers and inspiriting music. When at 
length Garfield appeared, the cheers seemed one 
vast shout from thousands of exultant breasts. 
As soon as there was a pause, his loud, clear voice 
was heard far over the crowd : 

Comrades of the ''Boys in Blue" and Fellow-Citi- 
zens OF New York : I cannot look upon this great assem- 
blage and these old veterans, that have marched past us, and 
listen to the welcome from our comrade, wlio has just spoken 
(Speaker Sharpe), without remembering, how great a thing it 
is to live iu this Union and be a part of it. This is New 
York; and yonder toward the Battery, more than one hun- 
dred years ago, a young student of Columbia College was 
arguing the ideas of the American Revolution and American 
Union against the un-American loyalty to monarchy of his 
college president and professors. By-and-by he went into the 
patriot army, was placed on the staff of Washington to fight 
the battles of his country ; and while in camp, before he was 
twenty-one years old, upon a drum-head he wrote a letter, 
which contained every germ of the Constitution of the 
40 



474 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



United States, That student, soldier, statesman and great 
leader of thought, Alexander Hamilton of New York, made 
this Republic glorious by his thinking, and left his lasting 
impress upon New York, the formost State of the Union. 
And here on this island, the scene of his early triumphs, we 
gather to-night, soldiers of the new war, representing the 
same ideas of union and glory, and adding to the column of 
the monument, that Hamilton, and Washington, and the 
heroes of the Revolution reared. 

Gentlemen, ideas outlive men. Ideas outlive all things; 
and you, who fought in the war for the Union, fought for im- 
mortal ideas ; and by their might you crowned our war with 
victory. But victory was worth nothing except for the fruits, 
that were imder it, in it, and above it. We meet to-night, as 
veterans and comrades, to stand sacred guard around the truths 
for which we fought ; and, while we have life to meet and 
grasp the hands of a comrade, we will stand by the great truths 
of the war. And, comrades, among the convictions of that 
war, which have sunk deep into our hearts, there are some, 
that we can never forget. Think of the great elevating spirit 
of the war itself. We gathered the boys from all our farms, 
and shops, and stores, and schools, and towns all over the 
Republic ; and they went forth, unknown to fame, but re- 
turned, enrolled on the roster of immortal heroes. They 
went in the spirit of those soldiers of Henry of Agincourt, 
to whom he said : 

" Who this clay sheds his blood, with me, 

To-day shall be my brother. Were he ne'er so vile, 
This day shall gentle his condition." 

And it did gentle the condition and elevate the heart of 
every soldier, who fougiit in it. And he shall be our brother 
for evermore. And this thing we will remember; we will 
remember our allies, who fought with us. Soon after the 
great struggle began, we looked behind the army of white 
rebels, and saw 4,000,000 of black people condemned to toil 
as slaves for our enemies ; and we found, that the hearts of 



ADDRESS IN NE W YORK. 



475 



these 4,000,000 were God-inspired with the spirit of liberty, 
and that they were our friends. We have seen white men 
betray the flag ; but in all that long, dreary war we never saw 
a traitor in a black skin. Our prisoners, escaping from the 
starvation of prisons, fleeing to our lines by the light of the 
North Star, never feared to enter the black man's cabin and 
ask for bread. In all that period of suffering and danger no 
Union soldier was ever betrayed by a black man or woman. 
And now that we have made them free, so long as we live, we 
will stand by these black allies. We will stand by them, 
until the sun of liberty, fixed in the firmament of our Consti- 
tution, shall shine with equal ray upon every man, black or 
white, throughout the Union. 

Now, fellow-citizens, fellow-soldiers, in this there is all the 
beneficence of eternal justice ; and by this we will stand for- 
ever. The great poet has said, that in individual life we rise 
on stepping-stones of our dead selves to higher things; and 
the Republic rises on the glorious achievements of its dead 
and living heroes to a higher and nobler national life. We 
must stand guard over our post, as soldiers, as patriots : and 
over our country as the common heritage of us all. 

I thank you, fellow-citizens, for this magnificent demonstra- 
tion. In so far as I represent in my heart and life the great 
doctrines, for which you fought, I accept this demonstration 
as a tribute to my representative character. In the strength 
of your hands, in the fervor of your hearts, in the firmness of 
your faith, in all, that betokens greatness of manhood and 
nobleness of character, the Republic finds its security and 
glory. I do not enter upon controverted questions. The 
time, the place, the situation forbid it. I respect the tradi- 
tions that require me to speak only of those themes, which 
elevate us all. Again I thank you for the kindness and en- 
thusiasm of your greeting. 

The address was interrupted at every sentence 
by applause and cheers. General Arthur, Edwards 



476 



THE LIFE OF FRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Pierrepont, Gen. Harrison, Anson G. McCook, and 
others followed. The great demonstration was a 
complete success ; and thoroughly aroused the 
enthusiasm of the Republican ranks, and open the 
campaign. 

The campaign was hotly contested thereafter. 
As the autumn elections drew near, the boasts of 
victory, that always fill the air in days of political 
excitement, became more and more extravaofant. 
For a time it seemed, as If those, uttered by the 
Republicans, were to be realized ; for on Septem- 
ber 7th Vermont went Republican by a majority 
of almost 30,000. Six days later Maine which 
had been confidently regarded as Republican was 
carried by the Democrats. This seemed at first 
disastrous ; but it proved in the end the one thing 
needful, furnishing the stimulus necessary to make 
the victory certain in Indiana and Ohio, on which 
all eyes were now fastened. The battle raged 
more fiercely than ever before in the annals of 
those States. 

Conkling, at length, compelled by circumstances 
to take part, began on the 1 7th of September, at 
New York, a series of speeches, in which, as he 
afterwards boasted, he never once mentioned the 
name of the Republican candidate. Up to this 
time, the campaign-speakers, having failed to fol- 
low the lead of Carl Schurz, had given too great 
prominence to those " dead Issues" of the war, 
which had received the rather significant title of 



THE CRISIS A T HAND. 



477 



" the bloody shirt." Seeing this, a party of Phila- 
delphia protectionists, headed by Wharton Barker, 
went to Mentor, and urged, that the direction of 
the campaign be changed, and every power be 
centered on the tariff-issue. This suijefestion was 
adopted by General Garfield; and the whole bur- 
den of the fight afterwards fell upon Protection 
and Free Trade. Not only in Ohio, but especially 
in Indiana, this change had a salutary effect. The 
Republicans carried both these pivotal States; and 
in spite of the efforts of their opponents to im- 
pair their prospects by means of a forged letter, 
they conducted the last part of the campaign with 
all the enthusiasm of certain victory. To the 
struggles in Indiana and Ohio was immediately 
added the fight in New York. Here also the 
Pennsylvanians came to the rescue; and Wharton 
Barker, in consequence of his connections and 
abilities, worked effectively. Both sides were 
over-heated ; one only absolutely confident. 
There were, however, planning and manoeuvering 
until the 2d of November. Then men of all par- 
ties paused for breath before the final issue. 
Amone them all no one was cooler, or more 
keenly alive to the actual situation, than the great 
Republican himself. With that well-known calm- 
ness of contemplation of the great events, in 
which he was the most interested observer, he 
wrote as follows to a friend on the very eve of 
election day : 
40* 



4/8 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDEXT GARFIELD. 



Mentor, Ohio, November ist, 1880. 

Dear : The evening mail brings me your letter of the 

31st ; and I take a moment in the lull before the battle to say, 
how greatly glad I am for all the earnest and effective things 
you have done for me. Whatever may be the issue of to- 
morrow, I shall carry with me through life most grateful 
memories of the enthusiastic and noble work my friends have 
done, and especially my college class-mates. The campaign 
has been fruitful to me in the discipline, that comes from 
endurance and patience. I hope defeat will not sour me, nor 
success disturb the poise, which I have sought to gain by the 
experiences of life. From this edge of the conflict I give you 
my hand and heart, as in all the other days of our friendship. 
As ever yours, 

J. A. Garfield. 

Happily for the country, defeat did not sour him. 
The total vote on the morrow was 8,872,360. Of 
this General Garfield received 4,437,345, and his 
opponent 4,435,015. The wild excitement of elec- 
tion-night was everywhere succeeded by an evi- 
dent sense of security. The country rang with 
rejoicing ; for the people felt, that they had se- 
cured a President with an unclouded title — one, 
who was an able statesman, a loyal citizen, and a 
true man. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



THE INTERIM AND INAUGURATION. 



THOUGH the feeling of joy and satisfaction 
at the result of the election was so uni- 
versal, yet he, who should have most re- 
joiced, was not so elated as the humblest of his 
supporters. He felt the great weight of responsi- 
bility that had been placed upon him ; and this 
feeling, which was continually deepened as the 
weeks passed, was especially apparent on inaug- 
uration day. He did not lightly assume the 
duties of his high office. On the day after the 
election, the faculty and several hundred students 
of Oberlin College — the first of many delegations 
— came to Mentor to offer General Garfield their 
congratulations and kind wishes. He thus greeted 
them : 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — This sponta- 
neous visit is so much more agreeable than a prepared one. 
It comes more directly from the heart of the people who par- 
ticipate ; and I receive it as a greater compliment for thai 
reason. I do not wish to be unduly impressible or supersti- 
tious ; but, though we have outlived the days of augurs, I 
think we have a right to hold some events as omens ; and I 
greet this as a happy and auspicious omen, that the first gen- 
eral greeting since the event of yesterday is tendered to me 
by a venerable institution of learning. The thought has been 

FF (479) 



48o 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



abroad in the world a good deal, and with reason, that there 
is a divorce between scholarship and politics. Oberlin, I 
believe, has never advocated tliat divorce ; but there has beon 
a sort of a cl iistered scholarship in the United States that 
has stood aloof from active participation in public affairs ; 
and I am glad to be greeted here to-day by the active, live 
scholarship of Ohio; and I know of no place where scholar- 
ship has touched upon the nerve-centre of public intelligence 
so effectually as at Oberlin. For this reason I am specially 
grateful for this greeting from the faculty and students of 
Oberlin College and its venerable presid'Uit. I thank you, 
ladies and gentlemen, for this visit. Whatever the signifi- 
cance of yesterday's event may be, it will be all the more 
significant for being immediately indorsed by the scholarship 
and culture of my State. 

The months came and went rapidly. Lawn- 
field soon became a shrine for pilgrims almost as 
numerous as those, who cast their prayer-carpels 
before the gates of Mecca. Every train from 
Cleveland or the East brought many or few to 
Mentor — politicians and office-seekers, or oftener, 
citizens, who came singly or in delegations to of- 
fer their congratulations. Many newspaper cor- 
respondents remained continually at Mentor, 
while others used Cleveland as a base of opera- 
tions. As the winter wore away, the stream of 
pilgrims became greater and more Importunate ; 
and the daily mail grew to an enormous size. 
One private secretary was kept busy, filing appli- 
cations for office, which became so persistent as 
to be very annoying. All sorts of devices were 
adopted. Some of the more persistent ones ap- 



AFTI^K THE ELECTIOX. 



481 



pealed in vain to the General's gentle wife or ag-ed 
mother. . All applications were filed but not ac- 
knowdedcred. 

In the latter part of November, 1880, General 
Garfield, accompanied by his wife and Hon. Amos 
Townsend, went to Washington. At his special 
request no public demonstration was attempted; 
and conversation about political topics was as far 
as possible avoided. He remained but three days 
in Washington. 

The result of the election was scarcely known, 
before the question of General Garfield's Cabinet 
was raised. It was very generally agreed in conse- 
quence of his well-known character, that he would 
endeavor to harmonize all factions in his party by 
adopting a policy of reconciliation. Senator Blaine 
was early mentioned as Secretary of State. It 
was announced, that the supporters of General 
Grant in the Chicago Convention would not be 
foro-otten. The author visited General Garfield at 
Mentor in November, 1880 (two days before he 
went to Washington), and was Informed that none 
but Senator Blaine had been decided upon ; and that 
Pennsylvania would be represented in the Cabinet. 
Nothing definite could be learned for weeks; but 
this did not prevent — it rather stimulated — a con- 
stantly increasing discussion of the question and 
speculation concerning it, until the very eve of in- 
auguration-day. 

On the 5th of January, iSSi, the MceT^resident 



482 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



laid the following letter before the Senate of the 
United States : 

Mentor, Ohio, December 23d, 1880. 

Sir: On the 13th and 14th days of January, A. D. 1880, 
the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, pursuant to law, 
chose me to be a Senator in the Congress of the United 
States, for said State, for the term of six years, to begin on 
the 4th of March, A. D. 1881. Understanding that the law- 
ful evidence of that fact has been presented to the Senate and 
filed in its archived, I have the honor to inform the Senate 
that I have, by letter dated December 23d, 1880, and ad- 
dressed to the Governor and General Assembly of the State 
of Ohio, formally declined to accept the said appointment, 
and have renounced the same. I am, sir, very respectfully. 
Your Obedient Servant, 

J. A. GARFIELD. 

To the President of the Senate of the United States. 

On the first of March, the President-elect left 
Mentor for the Capital, accompanied by his family 
and many personal friends. He traveled in a 
special train, composed of Pullman cars. The 
one occupied by the President-elect, was the pri- 
vate car of the manager of the Lake Erie and 
Western Railroad. His progress from his home 
to Washington was the occasion of a great out- 
burst of affection on the part of his old neighbors, 
and of popular regard along the route. This sug- 
gested by contrast the journey of his predecessor, 
who arrived at Harrisburg, before he learned 
definitely, that he had been declared the Presi- 
dent-elect. It also recalled by contrast, the still 



E.V ROUTE TO IVASHINGTON. 



48. 



more orloomy journey of the first Republican 
President, when it was necessary to change his 
proposed route to avoid assassins, who were lying 
in wait for his life. General Garfield's speeches 
at the few stopping places along the road were the 
frank, unpremeditated utterances of a man, who 
feels both the honors and the responsibilities of 
his new place, and who responds in a candid way 
to the popular regard. This regard was sponta- 
neously shown. Every one believed that he was 
about to begin a most brilliant administradon, that 
would astonish even his friends. For his abilities 
were such, as adapted themselves easily to new 
situations. The man, who had turned from teach- 
ing to soldiering, and from soldiering to legislation, 
and had made his mark in all these, was not likely 
to be at a loss, now that he, still vigorous and 
teachable, was called to dudes less alien to his 
previous career, than each of these was in its turn. 

A committee of citizens met the President-elect 
on his arrival, and escorted him to the Riggs 
House, where he took up his residence until after 
the inauguration. 

The night before his inauguration, many of his 
college classmates joined together at the Capital, 
and gave "Garfield '56" a y^;'^z<:^^//-dinner, as it 
proved to be. Speaking to them, he opened his 
great heart thus : 

To me there is something exceedingly pathetic in this re- 
union. In every eye before me I see the light of friendship 



484 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



and love ; and I am sure it is reflected back to each one of 
)ou from my inmost heart. For twenty-two years, with the 
exception of the last {q^ days, I have been in the public ser- 
vice. To-night I am a ])rivate citizen. To-morrow I shall 
be called to assume new responsibilities ; and on the day after 
the broadside of the world's wrath will strike. It will strike 
hard. I know it, and you will know it. Whatever may hap- 
pen to me in the future, I shall feel that I can always fall 
back upon the shoulders and hearts of the class of '56 for 
their approval of that which is right, and for their charita- 
ble judgment, wherein I may come short in the discharge of 
my public duties. You may write down in your books now 
the largest percentage of blunders, which you think I will be 
likely to make ; and you will be sure to find in the end, that 
I have made more than you have calculated — many more. 
This honor comes to me unsought. I have never had the 
Presidential fever — not even for a day ; nor have I it to-night 
I have no feeling of elation in view of the position I am 
called upon to fill. I would thank God were I to-day a free 
lance in the House or the Senate. But it is not to be ; and 
I will go forward to meet the responsibilities, and discharge 
the duties, that are before me, with all the firmness and 
ability I can command. 

The Fourth of March opened inauspiclously. 
Heavy, gray clouds obscured the sun. The snow, 
which had fallen during the preceding night, began 
to melt, and threatened to render the broad 
avenues impassable. Early in the morning, how- 
ever, men were busily occupied in clearing the 
snow from the route of the procession, so that, when 
later the sun appeared, its warm rays completely 
dried the streets. Thousands of strangers had 
gathered from all parts of the country; and the 



THE INAUGURAL mCCESSlO.V. 



4S; 



streets were throno-ed with crowds, never so 
numerous on any similar occasion, who eagerly, 
yet patiently, awaited the procession on its way to 
the Capitol. 

At 10.15 o'clock, the Presidential party came out 
of the White House, entered their carriages, and, 
preceded by the Cleveland Troop, moved through 
the west gate to Pennsylvania Avenue. They 
occupied two four-horse carriages, and consisted 
of President Hayes, President-elect Garfield, Vice- 
President Wheeler, Vice-President-elect Arthur, 
and Senators Bayard, Pendleton and Anthony. 
The Marine Band saluted them with "Hail to the 
Chief;" and the booming of a gun started the 
first division of the great procession, which was 
the Presidential escort, consisting chiefly of picked 
troops of United States infantry and artillery, 
and the Annapolis Cadets. General Sherman, 
Grand Marshal of the day, with a large and bril- 
liant staff, headed the escort. As it moved down 
Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol in splendid 
order, it was greeted enthusiastically by the 
thousands, who, along the entire route from the 
White House to the Capitol, lined the streets and 
crowded the windows. 

The enormous crowd, that filled the space in 
front of the Capitol, might fitly be designated the 
people. Inside the Senate-chamber was gathered 
an audience far smaller, yet more interesting. 
Every avenue of approach was doubly guarded. 
41 



486 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



The number of passes was very limited ; and 
many, who obtained them, could not, on account 
of the crowd, avail themselves of the privileges. 
Consequently the galleries were not overcrowded. 
Among the first to take their places in the audi- 
ence were Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. Garfield, and Gen- 
eral Garfield's mother, who with Miss Mollie 




THE NATIONAL CAPITOL. 

Garfield and Miss Fanny Hayes, under the escort 
of Major Swaim, occupied the President's Gal- 
lery. 

On the floor several hundred additional chairs 
had been placed for invited guests and the repre- 
sentatives of foreign governments. These seats 
began to be filled quite early with distinguished 
men. Gen. Hancock In full uniform, escorted by 
Senator Blaine, received a very hearty greeting. 



I 



lA'A UG I 'RAL L V'.KEMOiVIES. 



487 



The routine business of the Senate was continued 
until 1 1.30 o'clock, when the Diplomatic Corps, 
led by Sir Edward Thornton, and the Justices of 
the U. S. Supreme Court, in their robes of office, 
with Chief Justice Waite at their head, entered and 
took their places. 

It was now almost noon ; and as the Presidential 
party had not yet appeared, Doorkeeper Bassett 
took his staff, and in the presence of all turned 
back the hands of the clock five minutes. Before 
that time passed, the doors were thrown open ; 
and President Hayes and General Garfield 
entered, arm-in-arm, escorted by Senators An- 
thony, Bayard and Pendleton, and followed by the 
Cabinet. As they proceeded down the main aisle 
to their seats, every one on the: floor rose ; and 
those in the gallery applauded and waved their 
handkerchiefs. 

The hands of the clock had now reached the 
hour of 12, when all on the floor again rose, as 
\lce-President-elect Arthur entered, escorted by 
Sereeant-at-Arms Brio;ht and Senator Pendleton. 
Following them came the Representatives, with 
Speaker Randall at their head. General Arthur 
was handsome, dignified, and perfectly self-pos- 
sessed. Vice-President Wheeler introduced him. 
In a clear voice, and with no change except a 
slight pallor, he said: 

Senators : I come as your presiding officer with genuine 
solicitude, remembering my inexperience in parliamentary 



488 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



proceedings. I cannot forget how important, intricate and 
often embarrassing are the duties of the Chair. On the 
thresliold of our official association I invoke that courtesy 
and kindness, with which you have been wont to aid your 
presiding officer. I shall need your constant encouragement 
and support; and I rely with confidence upon your lenient 
judgment of any errors, into which I may fall. In return, 
be assured of my earnest purpose to administer your rules in 
a spirit of absolute fairness ; to treat every Senator at all 
times with that courtesy and just consideration, due to the 
representatives of equal States ; and to do my part, as assur- 
edly each of you will do his, to maintain the order, decorum 
and dignity of the Senate. I trust, that the official and per- 
sonal relations, upon which we now enter, will be marked 
with mutual confidence and regard, and that all our obliga- 
tions will be so fulfilled as to redound to our own honor, to 
the glory of our common country, and the prosperity of all 
its people. [Applause.] I am now ready to take the oath of 
office prescribed by the Constitution, 

When the applause, with which these words 
were received, had ceased, Mr. Wheeler adminis- 
tered the oath of office (during which profound 
silence reigned) ; and then spoke a few farewell 
words. Alludino- to the orood feelino-, that had al- 
ways been shown toward him, and returning his 
thanks, he declared the Senate of the Forty-sixth 
Congress adjourned sine die. The new Vice- 
President then took the gavel ; the new Senators 
were sworn in ; and the extra session of the Sen- 
ate began in the usual way. 

An announcement that the inaugural exercises 
would take place on the east portico of the Capitol 



J.VA UG URAL CEREMONIES. 



4S9 



was then made ; and diose on die floor arranged 
in a procession by die Sergeant-at-Arms of die 




MARBLE CORRIDOR OF THE CAPITOL. 

Senate, marched through the corridors and ro- 
tunda into the presence of the people. On the 
grounds in front of the portico was gathered an 
41=== 



4QO ^-^^^ /.//^£' OF PRESIDE XT GARFIELD. 

immense throng, of which the lowest estimate was 
40,000. As the President and the President-elect 
appeared before this vast assembly, the greetings 
of joy and respect were hearty and long-continued. 
Near General Garfield were seated the President 
and Vice-President, the Vice-President-elect, the 
Speaker of the House, the Judges of the Supreme 
Court, the Diplomatic Corps, Mrs. Hayes, and the 
wife and mother of the President-elect. After a 
pause of a few minutes, during which the scene 
was photographed. General Garfield arose ; and, 
taking a manuscript roll from his pocket, began 
the reading of his Inaugural Address, calmly 
and deliberately, in a clear, full voice. The eiUirc 
address, memorable among many famous State- 
papers, is worthy of being inserted here. We 
have space, however, for only the following 
passages, which are quoted with the special view 
of showing undoubted evidence, that General 
Garfield intended to add to his already enviable 
reputation for true statesmanship: 

Fellow-Citizens : We stand to-day upon an eminence 
which overlooks a hundred years of national life — -a century, 
crowded with perils, but crowned with the triumphs of liberty 
and law. Before continuing the onward march, let us pause 
on this heiglit for a moment to strengthen our faith and re- 
new our hope by a glance at the pathway along which our 
people have traveled. 

THE PARAMOUNT DUTY OK THE EXECUTIVE. 

if. :;: .-!; ;i< Jjc ;); 

Even from this brief review it is manifest that the nation is 
resolutely facing to the front, resolved to employ its best ener- 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS. . g j 

gics in developing the great possibilities of the future. Sa- 
credly preserving whatever has been gained to liberty and 
good government during the century, our people are deter- 
mined to leave behind them all those bitter controversies con- 
cerning things which have been irrevocably settled, and the 
further discussion of which can only stir up strife and delay 
the onward march. * * * The elevation of the 
negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the 
most important political change we have known since the 
adoption of the Constitution of 1787. * * * The eman- 
cipated race has already made remarkable progress. With 
unquestioning devotion to the Union, with a patience and 
gentleness not born of fear, they have ''followed the light 
as God gave them to see the light." They are rapidly lay- 
ing the material foundations of self-support, widening their 
circle of intelligence, and beginning to enjoy the blessings 
that gather around the homes of the industrious poor. 
They deserve the generous encouragement of all good 
men. So far as my authority can lawfully extend, they shall 
enjoy the full and equal protection of the Constitution and 
the laws. * * * q'he voters of the Union, who make 
and unmake constitutions, and upon whose will hang the 
destinies of our Government, can transmit their supreme 
authority to no successor save the coming generation of 
voters, who are the sole heirs of sovereign power. If that 
generation comes to its inheritance blinded by ignorance 
and corrupted by vice, the fall of the Republic will be cer- 
tain and remediless. 

The census has already sounded the alarm in the appal- 
ling figures which mark how dangerously high the tide of 
illiteracy has risen among our voters and their children. To 
the South this question is of supreme importance. But the 
responsibility for the existence of slavery did not rest upon 
the South alone. The nation itself is responsible for the 
extension of the suffrage, and is under special obligations to 
aid in removing the illiteracy which it has added to the vot- 



AQ2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

ing population. For the North and South alike there is but 
one remedy. All the constitutional power of the nation 
and of the States, and all the volunteer forces of the peo- 
ple should be summoned to meet this danger by the saving 
influence of universal education. * * * 'Y\\(t refunding 
of the national debt at a lower rate of interest should be ac- 
complished without compelling the withdrawal of the 
national bank notes, and thus disturbing the business of the 
country. I venture to refer to the position I have occupied 
on financial questions during a long service in Congress, and 
to say that time and experience have strengthened the opin- 
ions I have so often expressed on these subjects. The 
finances of the Government shall suffer no detriment which it 
may be possible for my administration to prevent. 

The interests of agriculture deserve more attention from 
the Government than they have yet received. The farms 
of the United States afford homes and employment for more 
than one-half our people, and furnish much the largest part 
of our exports. As the Government lights our coasts for the 
protection of mariners and the benefit of commerce, so it 
should give to the tillers of the soil the best lights of practi- 
cal science and experience. * * * \Ve will urge no nar- 
row policy, nor seek peculiar or exclusive privileges in any 
commercial route, but, in the language of my predecessor, I 
believe it to be "the right and duty of the United Srates to 
assert and maintain such supervision and authority over any 
interoceanic canal across the Isthmus, that connects North 
and South America, as will protect our national interests." 
* * * The Mormon Church not only offends the moral 
sense of mankind by sanctioning polygamy, but prevents 
the administration of justice through the ordinary instrumen- 
talities of law. In my judgment it is the duty of Congress, 
while respecting to the uttermost the conscientious convic- 
tions and religious scruples of every citizen, to prohibit with- 
in its jurisdiction all criminal practices, and especially of 
that class which destroy the family relations and endanger 



THE IXAUGURAL ADDRESS. 



493 



social order. Nor can any ecclesiastical organization be 
safely permitted to usurp, in the smallest degree, the func- 
tions and powers of the National Government. 

The civil service can never be placed on a satisfactory 
basis, until it is regulated by law. For the good of the ser- 
vice itself, for the protection of those who are intrusted with 
the appointing power against the waste of time and obstruc- 
tion of the public business caused by the inordinate pressure 
for place, and for the protection of incumbents against in- 
trigue and wrong, I shall at the proper time ask Congress to 
fix the tenure of the minor offices of the several executive de- 
partments and prescribe the grounds upon which removals 
shall be made during terms for which incumbents have been 
appointed. 

Finally, acting always within the authority and limitations 
of the Constitution, invading neither the rights of the States 
nor the reserved rights of the people, it will be the purpose 
of my administration to maintain the authority of the nation, 
and in all places within its juri.sdiction to enforce obedience 
to all the laws of the Union in the interests of the people ; to 
demand rigid economy in all the expenditures of the Govern- 
ment, and to require the honest and faithful service of all 
executive officers, remembering that the offices were created, 
not for the benefit of the incumbents or their supporters, but 
for the service of the Government. 

And now, fellow-citizens, I am about to assume the great 
trust -^'hich you have committed to my hands. I appeal to 
you for that earnest and thoughtful support which makes this 
Government in fact, as it is in law, a Government of the peo- 
ple. I shall greatly rely upon the wisdom and patriotism of 
Congress and of those who may share with me the responsi- 
bilities and duties of administration ; and, above all, upon 
our efforts to promote the welfare of this great people and 
their government, I reverently invoke the support and bless- 
ings of Almighty God. 



404 ^-^^^ /-//i^" OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Before the Address was finished, the clouds had 
completely cleared away ; and the sun shone upon 
the glistening bayonets and gay uniforms, and 
sparkled upon the snow beyond. The Address 
was applauded frequently by the vast audience. 
The rounded sentences fell with ease, and bore to 
the ear of every hearer a conviction of the speak- 
er's earnestness, of his appreciation oi the difficul- 
ties before him, and of his determination to sur- 
mount them successfully. As soon as the Address 
was finished, the oath of office was administered 
by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; and 
the President, with thoughtful tenderness, turned 
and kissed his wife and mother. 

After the President had delivered his Inaugural, 
his party entering their carriages, joined the pro- 
cession; and the march up the Avenue to the 
White House began. This procession was the 
grand feature of the day's celebration. Fully 
I 5,000 men were in line. It was universally con- 
ceded, that no such pageant had been witnessed 
in Washinofton since the orand review of the 
Army of the Potomac soon after the close of the 
war. The long- column was arranged in five 
divisions, and was composed of regular artillery, 
a portion of the Signal Corps, marines, and sailors 
from United States men-of-war, naval cadets, 
militia and independent military organizations 
from various States, East, West and South, many 
posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, Boys 



INA L'G i -RA TION FES Tl 1 7 T/£S. 



495 



In Blue, and various civic societies and political 
clubs. General Sherman was in command; and 
much of the success of the parade was due to 
his Intellleent managrement. The scene on Penn- 
sylvanla Avenue was very brilliant. The air re- 
sounded with the martial music of scores of bands. 
The broad avenue, the thronged walks, the bright 
uniforms and glistening arms of the military, the 
flags and banners of the civic societies, the 
gaily decorated buildings and the arches erected 
by the several States, made up a picture so glow- 
ing, that it can never fade from the memory of 
those who beheld it. Never before had the Chief 
Magistrate been installed with such ceremony. 

Later, near the reviewing stand the scene was 
still grander. When the head of the procession 
reached the Treasury Department, Pennsylvania 
Avenue, in front of the White House and for 
several squares above and below it, was literally 
packed with people, who had been waiting patiendy 
an hour or more for the return of President Gar- 
field from the Capitol. When the carriages, 
containing the Presldental party, reached the 
eastern gate of the Executive Mansion, they were 
driven Inside ; and the party soon arterwards ap- 
peared upon the reviewing stand, which had been 
erected above the sidewalk direcdy in front of the 
Mansion. Here the Presldental party remained 
I watching the long and bright procession pass. 
The day closed with fire-works and a ball. The 
GG 



496 



THE LltE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



fire-works were of the most elaborate character, 
attracting thousands of spectators ; and the State- 
arches, and a great many private houses and pub- 
he buildings were illuminated. The ball was an 
equal success. The newly completed National 
Museum formed the spacious ball-room. It was 
very tastefully decorated and brilliantly lighted 
with several electric lights and numerous gas-jets. 
At 9 o'clock, when the President was expected, it 
was estimated, that between 3,000 and 4,000 peo- 
ple had entered the building. At 9.30 the Ger- 
mania Orchestra of Philadelphia announced the 
entrance of the President by playing with fine 
effect the Inaugural March, composed for the 
occasion by Sousa, the leader of the Marine Band. 
After being presented to the inaugural reception- 
committee in a body, the President and invited 
guests moved in procession to the place reserved 
for them in the hall. There the President, for an 
hour or more, received with dignity and cordiality 
all, who came forward to receive and exchange 
greetings. Among the first was General Han- 
cock ; and the unaffected cordiality of both was 
universally noticed. 

A few minutes after eleven o'clock, the Presi- 
dent and his wife and mother retired, and were 
driven to the White House. The promenade 
concert closed at eleven o'clock. Then the danc- 
inof beo^an, and continued lonir after midnio;ht. 




Samuel 0. Kirkwood, 

SECT, OF THE INTERIOR. 



PRESIDENT GARFIELD'S CABINET. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

VHE EARLY DAYS OF GARFIELD'S ADMINISTRATION. 

THE next day, when the Senate assembled, 
the Vice-President read a special message 
froni the President announcing his Cabi- 
net. It was composed as follows: 
Secretary of State: James G. Blaine. 
Secretary of the Treasury: William Windom. 
Secretary of the Interior: Samuel J. Kirkwood. 
Secretary of the Navy: Willi a?»i H. Hunt. 
Secretary of War : Robert T. Lincoln. 
Postmaster-General: Thomas L. James. 
Attorney-General: Wayne MacVeagh. 

Almost all of these men had already acquired 
a more than sectional reputation. Whatever may 
have been the feelinof about the relative strength 
of this and previous Cabinets, no one could ques- 
tion, that President Garfield, in forming it, honestly 
endeavored to carry out his plan of reconciling 
all factions in his Party. Blaine and Windom 
were prominent candidates for the Presidency; 
James and Lincoln were concessions to the "third- 
term" faction; Hunt's appointment was a recog- 
nition of the South, and Kirkwood's of the West; 
and in MacVeagh's appointment there was an 

(499) 



CQQ THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

acknowledgrnent of that independent element, 
which in the recent history of pohtics is known as 
"TheYoung-RepubHcans." Itmay be, that President 
Garfield's very attempt at reconciliation intro- 
duced into his Cabinet disturbing elements, which 
might have prevented it from continuing through- 
out the four years of his administration. Yet the 
fact remains, that tbe wisdom of his action and 
the choice of his Cabinet were almost universally 
approved by all sections of the country. The 
nominations were confirmed by the Senate with- 
out a dissenting vote. 

On assuming the reins of government only two 
immediate problems were presented to President 
Garfield, that were surrounded with serious diffi- 
culties. One was the satisfactory adjustment of 
the claims of the enormous army of oftice- 
seekers, who peopled the capital, and invaded 
even the President's private apartments. The 
other was the great and important question of the 
disposition of the maturing debt. For the proper 
settlement of this question it was proposed to call 
an extra session of Congress. But the President 
discovered on investisfation, that the bonds, fallinof 
due during the summer, could be redeemed with- 
out any legislation. After consultation a plan was 
matured by Mr. Windom, on suggestions from 
the President, for extending the bonds at a lower 
rate of interest — three and one-half per cent. 
This plan was very acceptable to the country; and 



APPOIXTMENTS. tqj 

the old bonds, when due, were paid either with 
cash or with new bonds at the lower rate. By 
this arrangement many millions of dollars were 
saved. The first great problem was thus most 
satisfactorily disposed of. 

The remaining problem was a far more difficult 
one. The President had in his gift about 100,000 
offices, for which there were about 500,000 appli- 
cants. It was therefore necessary to offend 400,- 
000 men and their friends. To apportion these 
100,000 offices meant therefore almost a social 
revolution. It would produce an atmosphere ci 
discontent and possibly a National calamity. 

In the exercise of his appointing power. Presi- 
dent Garfield soon incurred hostility within his 
party. It is necessary to relate the story of this 
feud ; but the reader should bear in mind two 
facts : the immense patronage, which custom had 
placed in the President's hands ; and the almost in- 
surmountable difficulty in dispensing it. to the sat- 
isfaction of all, owing to the factions in his party. 
Remembering his earnest, honest spirit of recon- 
ciliation, the reader needs no better preface to 
this story than the President's own words, which 
years of deeds had verified : " I have all my life 
delighted in conflict of ideas ; but I never cared 
for conflicts of persons." 

On the 22d of March twelve persons, friends of 
Senator Conkling, were appointed to conspicuous 
offices in New York. On the following day Wil- 
42- 



502 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Ham H. Robertson, President of the New York 
Senate, was appointed Collector <if the Port of 
New York, in place of General Merritt, who was 
transferred to the Consul-Generalship of London, 
Robertson's nomination was exceedingly distaste- 
ful to Mr. Conkling, and aroused his opposition. 
It should be remembered, that Robertson had in 
the Chicago Convention stoutly opposed the 
" third-term" movement. 

Before speaking of the immediate results of the 
nomination of Robertson, it will be necessary to 
go back a few months. General William Mahone 
of Virginia, a champion of repudiation, had, during 
the Winter, made an agreement with certain Re- 
publicans, that he would, in the organization of the 
Senate, vote with them, in consideration of being 
allowed to name the sergeant-at-arms. It so hap- 
pened, that, while this agreement enabled the Re- 
publicans to organize the Senate Committees in 
their favor, it produced, from a variety of causes, 
a dead-lock, which was most fiercely maintained. 
This prevented an executive session, and any ac- 
tion upon nominations sent to the Senate. 

With the opening clays of April, it was well 
imderstood at Washington, that the country was 
disgusted at its senators and their paltry wrang- 
ling over the spoils of victory. The most earnest- 
minded of them endeavored to break the dead- 
lock, which, by this time, had become exceedingly 
embarrassing to the President^ owing to the in- 



OFFOSJNG A'OM/i\'AT/0.\'S, Cq^ 

convenience of having several hundred nomina- 
tions unconfirmed. After a great deal of talk, the 
Republicans decided to hold a caucus, and there- 
after abandon the question of the re-organization of 
the Senate, until all the nominations of the Presi- 
dent had been acted on. By this time the rupture 
between the President and Mr. Conkline" was an 
open one. It was perfectly understood, that 
Robertson's confirmation would be opposed by 
every means in the power of the senior Senator 
from New York. An attempt was made to induce 
the President to withdraw Mr. Robertson's name, 
but without avail. Several meetinofs of the Re- 
publican caucus were held; and on May 2d, it was re- 
solved, that executive sessions be held immediately 
(the Democrats being willing to go into executive 
session, but unwillino;' to oro;anize the Senate in 
the interest of the Republicans, and adopting 
dilatory motions to prevent it), and that contested 
nominations lie over. A nomination was said to 
be contested, if it was opposed by one Senator from 
the State, from which the nominee was appointed. 
The effect of this was, of course, to force Mr. 
Robertson's nomination to go over until the fol- 
lowing December, and to obtain for Mr. Conkling 
a victory over the President. With this result 
Mr. Conkling was highly pleased; for he had suc- 
ceeded in driving the senators into supporting him 
without making an open rupture between them 
and the President. 



504 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



The next morning, May 5th, all the nominations 
that were pleasing to Mr. Conkling were with- 
drawn. This defined the issue sharply. Several 
Senators went to the White House and endea- 
vored to persuade the President to withdraw the 
nomination of Mr. Robertson. The interview 
was a long and stormy one. The President very 
freely expressed his opinion of the action of Mr. 
Conkling and of the Republican caucus in carry- 
ing out what he termed " Mr. Conkling's plan." 
He absolutely refused to withdraw Mr. Robert- 
son's nomination. The Senators returned, and 
reported the results of their conference to a 
number of Senators at the Capitol. There could 
now be no doubt that Robertson would be con- 
firmed. Caucuses were called, and Conkling de- 
fended his cause as best he could. Senator Frye 
upheld the administration. To Mr. Conkling it 
was perfectly clear that he was to be defeated. 
He cast about him for a new expedient. On 
May 1 6th, he offered his resignation as a Senator 
from New York. His colleague, Mr. Piatt, did 
likewise. It was generally believed that Mr. 
Conkling took this step because he thought that 
he would be re-elected promptly by .his own 
Legislature, and thus "vindicated" In his course 
by his own State. Mr. Robertson was confirmed 
on May i8th. 

The contest was now transferred to Albany. 
Here Conkling's very first move was checkmated. 



THE COXKLING FIGHT. cqc 

By the law of New York an election to fill a 
vacancy, if the Legislature is in session, must be 
held on the second Tuesday after the vacancy is 
announced to the Legislature. Mr. Conkling for- 
warded his resignation to Governor Cornell on 
Monday the 15th; but the governor failed to an- 
nounce it to the Senate, before it adjourned. The 
election was in consequence postponed for a fort- 
night. This was equivalent to a defeat. It gave 
the country time to speak, and so unmistakably, 
that, when the balloting for successors to Messrs. 
Conkling and Piatt began on May 30th, Mr. 
Conkling found pitted against his claims 1 19 votes 
out of a total of 154. He went in person to 
Albany, accompanied by ex-Senator Piatt and 
Vice-President Arthur. All of these gentlemen 
labored with the desperation of a lost cause. 

The voting at Albany, as June wore on, rapidly 
degenerated into a dead-lock ; and the country 
looked on, at first amazed, then interested, then 
apathetic, and finally, as the atmosphere became 
charged with political corruption, disgusted. 
Bribery showed its hideous head. The days 
passed rapidly. The disgraceful struggle was re- 
garded as most corrupting all over the country. 
The spectacle of loose political morality and of 
looser political faith in the election of United 
States Senators was unparalleled in the history of 
the Republican party and the United States. June 
wore away; and still Conkling forced the fighting. 



5o6 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



The great moral of this story — the need of 
civil service reform — has been drawn again and 
again in the press and the pulpit, and in the pub- 
lic and private conversation of men, of every 
section of the country. As long as mere devotion 
to party continues to be the governing principle 
in civil appointments, just so long the civil service 
will be at the mercy of ambitious politicians, to 
whom the spoils of office are of more interest 
than the welfare of the Republic ; just so long 
feuds and even crimes are possible. But this 
moral is especially emphasized by the awful deed, 
which martyred President Garfield. Something 
should be done to lessen the chances, to prevent 
almost certainly the recurrence of such a deed. 
But it should be done by removing the causes, , 
that gave rise to a state of affairs that made Gui- J 
teau possible, rather than by attempting to pre- 
vent another Guiteau from reaching the same 
measure of success. It is wiser to remove all in- 
clinations to be an assassin, than to attena,pt to 
thwart his blood-thirsty desires — to remove the | 
cause of disease, rather than attempt remedies to 
check it, when it shows itself. To do this, some- 
thing Is needed, that shall cure the evils bred of 
the spoils system, and the constant elevation of 
party to the inevitable degradation of country. 
The President, possibly discerning disaster in the 
future, called attention to the matter in his Inaug- 
ural Address : 



CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. cq? 

The civil service can never be placed on a satisfactory 
basis until it is regulated by law. For the good of the ser- 
vice itself, for the protection of those who are intrusted with 
the appointing power against the waste of time and obstruc- 
tion of the public business, caused by the inordinate pressure 
for place, and for the protection .of incumbents against in- 
trigue and wrong, I shall, at the proper time, ask Congress to 
fix the tenure of the minor offices of the several executive 
departments, and prescribe the grounds upon which removals 
shall be made during terms for which incumbents have been 
appointed. 

This imperative need of the day is admirably 
stated in Mr. Conkhng's ringing words to J. H. 
Griswold in 1871 : "Every one knows that the 
fittest step toward remedy and reform is to nomi- 
nate the best men in the RepubHcan party, and 
elect them to the Legislature and to the executive 
offices of the State ; and yet men stand talking 
about Federal patronage, and differences among 
leaders, and personal feelings between individuals, 
and the like. What have such things to do with 
the duty of this hour? What do the people care 
about them ? What should they care ? Of what 
public consequence are the personal aims and ob- 
jects and mishaps of individuals ?" 

There can be no question, that the mind of the 
people is made up to brook no delay in this mat- 
ter ; and whatever recommendations the President 
shall see fit to make to Congress in his first annual 
message, will doubtless be speedily acted on. Two 
bills were introduced into the last Congress deal- 



5o8 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



ing" with the subject of civil service reform. 
Neither of them was pronounced unconstitutional 
or impracticable ; and yet neither was ever de- 
bated, because Congress supposed the people 
were not in earnest or ripe for this matter. The 
Ohio Democratic Convention has led the way with 
a tenure of office plank in its platform ; and the 
President will soon, it is hoped, be relieved by law 
from filling the 100,000 offices at present in his 
gift. Nominations to all the smaller offices should 
be made by the heads of those departments, under 
whom the appointees will serve, reserving always 
to the President the right of veto upon any ap- 
pointment. Tenure of office should be enforced 
during competency and good behavior. Such a 
law would relieve the President from personally 
assuming, as now, the payment of the entire debt 
of his election, and enable him to attend strictly 
to the direct duties of his office. It cannot be 
questioned, that the standard of statesmanship 
would thus be greatly raised. 

If, however, the voice of the people is not heeded 
by their representatives, there is no occasion for 
despairing of the w^ished-for result. General 
Garfield once said: "Whatever the people can do 
without legislation, will be better done than by the 
the intervention of the State or nation." But the 
people, in consequence of the power, which our 
republican institutions have placed in their hands, 
can, if they will, influence legislation. In them, 



CONKLING'S DEFEAT. cog 

rather than in their representatives, exists the 
sovereign power. If the present pohtical parties 
will continue a meanino^less struecrle over dead 
issues, or a disgraceful wrangle over the spoils of 
office, let the people, forming a new party, push 
to success the needed reform, purify our institu- 
tions, and add to the glory and permanency of 
the Republic. On July ist, the relations of the 
factions became strained to the last degree; and 
they so continued, until the month was three 
weeks gone. Conkling was eventually retired 
from political life by the election of Eldridge G. 
Lapham as his successor. Warner Miller was 
elected to succeed Mr. Piatt ; and the long, dis- 
graceful struggle came to an end, bringing discredit 
upon those, who had precipitated it. 



^j) 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



A TIME OF TRIAL. 



SATURDAY, July 2d, was as fair a day as 
usually comes with an American summer. 
Thouofh the heat was somewhat severe in 
Washington, the sun, that gilded the head of 
Columbia on the dome of the Capitol, was not 
unkindly in its fervor. At the White House that 
morning the President was early astir. He had 
many matters, that needed attention, before he 
left the city on an early train. His son Jim, who 
is quite a young athlete, came into his father's 
room, and deftly turned a hand-spring across the 
bed. 

"Don't you wish you could do that?" asked the 
boy. 

"Well, I think I can," replied the President; 
and, after a moment's consideration, he placed his 
hands on the bed, and turned almost as neatly as 
his son. 

At Breakfast, the conversation turned on the 
approaching trip to New England, the President 
had planned to attend the Commencement-exer- 
cises of his Ahta Mater, Williams College, There 
had been arranged, in connection with this visit, 
a somewhat extended trip through Vermont, New 
(510) 



THE SECOND OF JUL Y. r j i 

Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, in which 
he was to be accompanied by Mrs. Garfield and 
three of his children, several members of the Cabi- 
net with their wives, and other particular friends. 
Those, who were in Washington, were to start for 
New York at 9.30 o'clock that morning. They 
were to be joined there by Mrs. Garfield and 
several others of the President's party, who had 
been sojourning at Long Branch, whither Mrs. 
Garfield had gone to recover from a severe atttack 
of typhoid fever. The President was looking 
forward to the trip with eagerness and delight. 
He was the picture of perfect health, and his con- 
versation was unusually bright and cheerful. 
After breakfast, Secretary Blaine came to accom- 
pany the President to the depot. The carriage 
was driven rapidly along the magnificent avenue 
to the station of the Baltimore and Potomac Rail- 
road, at Sixth and B Streets. The few pedes- 
trians, who paid sufficient attention to the passing 
carriage to recognize the happy occupants, smil- 
ingly lifted their hats to the Executive. The car- 
riao-e halted at the B Street entrance. This leads 
to the ladies' room, furnished with fixed wooden 
settees, so arranged as to leave a broad passage- 
way, about twenty feet long, from the outer door 
to the opposite side of the room. From this side of 
the room two doors open into the gentlemen's 
waiting-room. It is necessary- to pass around the 
ends of the benches, either to the right or left, to 
HH 



- J 2 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

reach one of these doors. As the carriag'e drove 
up to the entrance, the President said to Officer 
Kearney, who was on duty there : 

"How much time have I? " 

"About ten minutes, sir," was the reply, where- 
upon the President and Secretary Blaine con- 
tinued their conversation. After about five 
minutes, they alig-hted from the carriage, and 
passed quietly into the ladies' room. There 
were a few ladies present, and a few people in the 
general waiting-room beyond. Most of those, 
who were to take the train, were already on board. 
Of those in the room beside the railroad-officials, 
there was a slender, light-complexioned man, who 
walked up and down rather nervously, occasionally 
glancing out of the door in a vacant fashion, as if 
his mind was bent upon some strangely fascinat- 
ing picture. This man bore the name of Charles 
Jules Guiteau. His was not a face or figure, that 
would have attracted especial notice. He walked 1 
up and down the room without ceasing, moving * 
the length of the settees with short irregular steps. 
He had just reached the end of the room, as the 
President entered with Secretary Blaine. Guiteau 
turned about, set his teeth, and quietly inserted 
his hand within his pocket. When the President 
had passed beyond him, he advanced a few steps 
in the same direction, drew a revolver from his 
pocket, pointed it steadily, and fired deliberately 
at the man, whom he had come to murder. The 



I 



THE FATAL SHOT. 



515 



President staggered, and turned to see whence 
came the murderous bullet. Guiteau re-cocked 
his revolver, and with the deliberation of death 
fired again. The President fell to the floor, faint- 
ing and bleedine; and Guiteau turned and fled. 

The echo of the shots had scarcely found its 
way to the open air, before the President was sur- 
rounded. A terrible deed had been committed. 
Assassination for the second time had stricken 
down the Chief Mao-istrate. Then ensued a 
moment of terrible agony and confusion. Secre- 
tary Blaine sprang after the assassin, who, finding 
his way barred in one direction, turned in another 
only to run into the arms of the law. Seeing that 
the murderer was caught, Mr. Blaine turned to 
the wounded man. Mrs. White, who had charge 
of the ladies' waiting-room, ran to the President, 
knelt beside him, and gendy took his head in her 
lap. The shock of the bullet had been very great. 
He was pale and neither stirred nor spoke. Soon 
vomitine beean; all color faded from his face; 
and he leaned heavily on those, who were support- 
ing him. By this time a horror-stricken crowd 
had gathered about him. Secretary Windom, 

Secretary Hunt, Postmaster-General James and 
others of the party, that were to accompany the 
President, were in and out of the room, sending 
hither and thither messengers and messages for 
doctors. The President's own carriage dashed off 
at a gallop to the White House, to the astonish- 



5i6 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



ment of the people on the Avenue, who had not 
yet learned the direful news. As the room was 
uncomfortably crowded, a mattress was brought ; 
and the President, placed on it, was carefully 
carried to a laro^e room on the second floor. But 
few persons were admitted. Dr. Townshend, the 
Health Officer, was the first physician who ar- 
rived ; and he was soon followed by Dr. Purvis, 

Hardly had the mattress been laid upon the 
floor, when the wounded man, ever thouehtful of 
those nearest to him, turned to his friend, and said : 

" Rockwell, I want you to send a message to 
' Crete' (the pet name used for his wife, Lucretia) ; 
/ will dictate it. Tell her I am seriously hurt — 
how seriously I cannot yet say. I am myself, and 
hope she will come to me soon. I send my love 
to her." 

Was there ever anything more ineffably tender, 
more wonderfully gentle than this ? Stricken 
down by the assassin's bullet in the most power- 
ful and prosperous moment his country had 
known for half a century, and uncertain whether 
he was then and there to renounce the honor he 
had so lately won, he turned with his whole heart 
to her, who for years had been his helpmate and 
his life. 

During the dictation of the dispatch, Dr. Bliss 
and several other physicians arrived. A hasty 
inspection of the wound by Dr. Bliss, demon- 
strated, that the President was terribly wounded. 



REMOVED TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 



517 



It was imperative, that he should be removed to 
the White House, where he could receive every 
attention. An ambulance was speedily summoned. 
The President was gently borne down stairs by 
loving hands, and laid within it. His friends, who 
had been at the station, were already at the White 
House. As he was lifted out of the ambulance, 
with the pallor of death stamped upon his face, he 
glanced upward to the windows, where his friends 
w^ere waiting sadly and silently, fearing that he 
would be borne home to them dead. As he rec- 
ognized them, he raised his right hand, and with a 
smile, which those, who saw it, will never forget, 
gave the military salute. He was carried care- 
fully to an upper chamber in the soutlnvest corner 
of the Mansion. Soon afterward, came Mrs. 
Hunt, Mrs. James, IMrs. Windom, Mrs. Blaine 
and Mrs. W. T. Sherman. Other friends of Mrs. 
Garfield quickly arrived, but were denied admit- 
tance. The ponderous gates, which lead to the 
Executive Mansion, were guarded by policemen ; 
and armed military sentinels, as if by some fear- 
ful magic, silently took their places about the 
grounds. These troops were ordered from the 
Washington Barracks to relieve the regular police, 
whose services were needed in the city, where the 
excited crowds were rapidly increasing. Their 
bayonets, flashing in the sunlight, seemed porten- 
tous of an awful fate hanging over the Republic, 
and recalled the last hours of President Lincoln, 



5i8 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDE AT GARFIELD. 



when the same horror was reflected from the 
faces of the people, who surged about the Execu- 
tive Mansion, and watched similar silent sentries 
pacing under the trees. 

In his sick-room lay the President, surrounded 
by the most eminent physicians in Washington. 
He at first complained of numbness, then of pain, 
in his feet. The bullet, which entered the back, 
did not pass through the body. The wound was 
situated on the riijht side, four inches from the 
spine, and passed downwards and to the left, be- 
tween the tenth and the eleventh rib. An e.xam- 
inatlon was made with the finofers, but it was 
deemed advisable not to attempt to ascertain by 
probing what direction the ball had taken, or 
where it had lodged. He had but slightly reacted 
from the shock, and his physicians had little hope 
that he would live to see his wife. He was 
conscious however. Early in the afternoon, he 
inquired of Secretary Blaine the name of the 
assassin, and what motive he could have had in 
committing the deed. Secretary Blaine replied 
that he was, doubtless, a disappointed office-seeker. 
Directions were (riven that he should see as few 

O 

persons as possible, and that he should be kept 
from conversation, or from any effort whatever. 
After consultation, it was determined by the sur- 
geons that at three o'clock, if his condition would 
permit, they would probe for the ball. When this 
hour arrived, it was found that he was not in con- 




^oer. RE^^^ 






SURGEONS IN CHARGE CF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



CRITICAL CONDITION. r 2 I 

dition to undergo die operadon, and it was again 
postponed. At this consultation, however, Dr. 
Wales (Surgeon-General of the Navy), examined 
the wound with his fingers, and detected the 
roucfh edq^es of the fractured ribs. 

The situation became more critical every hour; 
and his physicitns could offer only the slightest 
hope. They sought in vain for signs of increas- 
ing reaction. The patient vomited frequently, 
and his prostration was extreme. His attendants 
loneed for the comin^r of his wife, but feared that 
she would arrive too late. His own anxiety for 
the arrival of his wife increased with ever^' hour. 
On that eventful morning, General Swaim an- 
nounced to her, as gently as he could, that the 
President had been shot. She immediately began 
preparations for her departure for Washington. 
Before she started. General Swaim received the 
following dispatch: 

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, July 2d, 18S1. 
General Swaim, Et heron, Nezu Jersey : 

We have the President safely and comfortably settled in 
his room at the Executive Mansion. His pulse is strong and 
nearly normal. So far as I can detect from what the surgeons 
say, and from his general condition, I feel very hopeful. 
Come on, as soon as you can get special. Advise me of the 
movements of your train, and when you can be expected. As 
the President said on a similar occasion, sixteen years ago: 
" God reigns, and the government at Washington still lives." 

A. F. Rockwell. 

At 12.45 P- ^' th^ special train, furnished by 

44 



522 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



the Pennsylvania Railroad, was ready, and sped 
away to Washington, at sixty miles an hour. A 
little later. Colonel Rockwell told the President 
that Mrs. Garfield had started, when he replied, 
with evident feeling, " God bless the little woman ! 
I hope the shock won't break her down." Her 
arrival was delayed until after 7 o'clock by an ac- 
cident to the engine. The persons present in the 
sick-room, retired, to allow Mrs. Garfield to meet 
her husband alone, as he had requested. They 
remained together only five minutes ; but the ef- 
fect of this brief interview was soon seen in the 
rallying of the almost dying man. At the end of 
that time the doctors were a^ain admitted to the 
room. They found the President perfectly con- 
scious, but weaker. Within two hours, however, 
he began to show signs of reaction ; and his con- 
dition gradually improved during the night. 

These were the sad scenes within the White 
House walls. Outside and beyond, the world was 
in a fever. Hardly had the President fallen by the 
assassin's bullet, before the telegraph had winged 
the news to all parts of the land. As the dispatch 
flashed along : " The President has been shot, the 
assassin arrested," those, who heard it could 
scarcely believe it. The fact was too terrible to 
be true — that the good and able President had 
been, on that bright second of July, shot down in 
the nation's capital ! Rapidly the terrible news 
spread. Before noon there was scarcely a man, 



THE FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT. cj-t 

woman or child, who did not know that the Chief 
Magistrate had been shot. But few of the details 
of the crime were known ; and speculation had 
full swing, not only in debating the probable re- 
sults of the attack on the President, but in seek- 
ing some plausible motive for the crime. 

After I 2 o'clock, the news came slightly more in 
detail , and, with the knowledge, that the Presi- 
dent was still living, and that the doctors were not 
hopeless of his recovery, men breathed more 
freely. The newspapers everywhere were receiv- 
ing dispatches every few minutes ; and, as they 
came, they were promptly bulletined. These bul- 
letin-boards were the centres of attraction ; and 
the sidewalks and streets in front of them were 
soon crowded with men, who stood in the broiling 
sun, and forgot the heat in their intense eagerness 
for the latest scrap of information. At noon the 
" extras" appeared ; and the demand for them was 
so great as to be beyond the power of the press 
to supply them. The information, given in the 
early dispatches,was very brief, but reassuring — the 
President was conscious ; the doctors thought that 
he might live ; the assasin was in jail under strong 
guard. Late in the afternoon, the dispatches be- 
came hourly more despondent ; and the people 
waited with fear, and yet with a hope almost for- 
lorn. 

At last darkness fell. The expected announce- 
ment of the President's death had not (thank 



524 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



God) been made. The crowd still ling-ered 
about the bulletin-boards, and eagerly read the 
dispatches. At 9 o'clock, it was announced, 
in a telegram from Postmaster-General James, 
that the sufferer was sleeping, and that his 
pulse was not so high as it had been. This was, 
at least, a 7'ay of sunshine among the shadows. 
Just before 1 1 P. M., when the fact was posted 
that the patient had rallied, and could converse 
with his attendants, the crowds gave vent to hearty 
expressions of joy, and gratification, and hope. 
Still they lingered ; and the same scenes that had 
so distinguished that Saturday evening from all 
other evenings In their lives, continued into the 
early hours of Sunday. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



HOURS OF SUFFERING. 



THE symptoms of death, which had seemed 
so marked during the long reaches of the 
afternoon and the early hours of the even- 
ing of July 2d, grew fainter by 7.40. Shortly after, 
the patient slept naturally for half an hour. When 
he awoke, he said to Mrs. James, who was sitting 
at the bedside: " Do you know where Mrs. Gar- 
field is now ?" 

" Oh, yes," she answered, " she is close by, 
watching and praying for her husband." 

Lookine at her with an anxious face, he said ; 
" I want her to go to bed. Will you tell her, that 
I say, that if she will go to bed, I will turn right 
over ; and I feel sure, that I can go to sleep and 
sleep all night? Tell her," he exclaimed with 
sudden energy, " I will sleep all night, if she will 
only do what I ask." 

Mrs. James conveyed the message to Mrs. Gar- 
field, who said at once : " Go back, and tell him, 
that I am retiring." 

She returned with the answer ; and the Presi- 
dent, turning on his right side, dropped into a 
quiet sleep almost instandy. At 10.20 the symp- 
44* (525 ) 



526 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



toms were more favorable, and afforded a ground 
for hope. The change was certainly marked and 
gratifying. At 1 1 P. M., the symptoms were still 
favorable, and when midnight came, the sufferer 
was in a deep and restful sleep. About the White 
House and all around the White House grounds 
there was no sleep. There watched the people ; 
for the heart of the Nation was with its President. 

Sunday dawned, cloudless and fair to see. Dur- 
ing the day, which repeated some of the features 
of the day before, better arrangements were 
made for the management of the case; and the 
recovery from the shock permitted more attention 
to be paid to details. 

The arrangements, by which the President was 
secluded from noise or disturbanee of any kind, 
were very complete. Only privileged visitors 
were allowed to go up-stairs. They were re- 
ceived in the private secretary's room, which opens 
by a door-way to the left into a room in the south- 
east corner of the building, occupied by the ex- 
ecutive clerks. Here the bulletins from the 
physicians were brought ; and a telegraph instru- 
ment, at the end of the corridor just outside, sent 
the tidings round the world. To the right of the 
private secretary's room is the Cabinet-room. 
Next in the suit comes the library. Beyond this 
is the room, known as the State bed-chamber ; 
and next to this, come two rooms In the south- 
west corner, the President's chamber and dress- 



PLAN OF ROOM. 



529 



inof-room. In this chamber the wounded President 
lay, removed from noise or bustle. 

The following plan of the room will give an 



idea of its arrangement: 



Window. 



~j Window. I 



^« 



Bureau, 







Easy \ \ Chair. 



Table. 




— c 

rt 5 
C fcj) 



^C. 



Door to 
Corridor, 



Corridor. 



Corridor. 



During the first twenty-four hours, fully a dozen 
of the best physicians of Washington had been in 
attendance. After the mornino; consultation, Dr. 



530 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Bliss selected three from among- them to form 
with him the Medical Board — Dr. J. K. Barnes, 
Surgeon-General of the Army ; Dr. J. J. Wood- 
ward, an Army-Surgeon, and Dr. Robert Reyburn, 
a private practitioner. 

There were rarely more than two or three per- 
sons at a time in the sick-room. Miss Edson, the 
nurse, who so faithfully waited upon Mrs. Garfield 
during her illness in May and June, stayed in the 
room; and Mrs. James, Mrs. Blaine and Mrs. Hunt 
took turns in sitting at the bedside of the Presi- 
dent and fanning him. One of the physicians re- 
mained in the room, the doctors alternating in this 
service. The others sat in the adjoining room 
within call, if any change of symptoms should 
need their collective attention. 

The patient furnished frequently, throughout 
Sunday, evidences of his extraordinary moral 
courage, good temper, cheerfulness, and regard 
for the feelings of others. At times he would ex- 
press anxiety for those, who were attending him, 
and inquire whether they had had proper rest. 
Occasionally he asked to be Informed of the gene- 
ral news of the dav. Durlnor the mornlne he said 
to Dr. Bliss: "What are my chances for re- 
covery?" adding, that he was prepared to die, 
and did not fear to learn the worst. The doctor 
replied: "Your injury is formidable. In my judg- 
ment, you have a chance for recovery," " Well, 
doctor," he cheerfully said, "we'll take that chance." 



A CHEERY PATIENT. 



53J 



In the course of the night an nicident occurred, 
which showed both his o-reat orood-nature and his 
intelhgent recognition of the importance of the 
physicians' order, that he should remain quiet. 
General Swaim was sitting by his bedside, fanning 
him ; and the patient persisted in talking to him. 
General Swaim remonstrated several times about 
continuinof such efforts against the order of the 
physicians. The remonstrances failing to pro- 
duce the desired effect, General Swaim said, in a 
brusque tone : " I won't talk to you and won't 
listen to you. Why don't you keep quiet ?" The 
President laughed at this outburst, and said: 
" What is the use of your getting- mad with me, 
Swaim ? You know sick people must be indulged." 
To this. General Swaim returned : " You must 
keep quiet. If you don't, I won't take care of 
you, and won't let any one else do it." Again the 
President laughed at his old friend's bluntness, 
and, grasping his arm, said, with a twinkle in his 
eye, " I will make a treaty with you. If )-ou 
keep my mouth filled with ice, I will keep quiet." 
" It is a bargain," responded Swaim, as he pro- 
ceeded to carry out the terms of the treaty. 

At another time during the night, when Col. 
Rockwell was watching by the bedside, the Presi- 
dent moved uneasily, and uttered a slight groan. 
Col. Rockwell asked if he was suffering much 
pain, to which the President responded : " Yes, I 
suffer some. I suppose the tigers are coming 



532 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



back ; but they don't usually stay long. Don't 
be alarmed, old boy." 

Late in the afternoon, Mrs. Garfield and the 
immediate friends of the President, urged that ad- 
ditional medical advice should be sought, and 
Drs. D. Hayes Agnew, of Philadelphia, and Frank 
H. Hamilton, of New York, were summoned by 
telegraph. The Pennsylvania Railroad promptly 
placed a special train at their disposal, so that 
they arrived within a few hours after being sum- 
moned. 

At midnight, the White House doors were 
closed ; and all the door-keepers departed but one, 
who seated himself at the open window on the 
north side of the corridor, to admit privileged 
visitors. Thereafter nobody, except the physicians 
and Cabinet Ministers, was allowed to go up- 
stairs. A policeman kept patient watch at the 
iron gate in front of the grounds, before which a 
large crowd still lingered wistfully. A ' regular 
soldier, with fixed bayonet, paced silently on the 
path behind him. His comrades, wrapped in 
blankets, lay sleeping under the trees upon the 
eastern greensward, their rifles stacked in front of 
them. A long-bearded police -sergeant sat, club 
in hand, upon the White House porch, surrounded 
by a dozen waiting newspaper men, beginning 
their weary all-night vigil. At i o'clock, there was 
a subdued stir, caused by the arrival of a bulletin 
from the physicians. It was hastily perused by 



THE NIGHT WATCHES. r •, ■, 

the reporters, who instantly hurried to the tele- 
graph office. 

Alone In the hushed city, the great Western 
Union offices blazed with light, and buzzed with 
the hum of instruments. The receivinor-room was 
thronged by message-senders ; and on the operat- 
ing floor a double force of operators were work- 
ing at high tension. At 1.30 it was announced by 
the physicians, that no further bulletins would be' 
Issued until 7.30 in the morning; and soon after- 
ward the members of the Cabinet took their de- 
parture, for the purpose of obtaining a few hours 
of needed sleep. 

A few minutes before 4 o'clock the boom of a 
o-un at the Barracks siofnaled the dawn of Inde- 
pendence Day, now shrouded In silence and clad 
In mourning. For the first time In the history of 
the Republic the entire anniversary of the Declar- 
ation of Independence was passed at the Capital 
of the nation with no signs of recognition except 
the hoisting of the national flag. At 6 o'clock, a 
messenofer descended the White House stairs 
and informed the yawning watchers, that the 
physicians had arisen, and had made a cursory 
examination of the President. Their conclusion 
was, that he had held his own during the night. 
The messenger added, that they were preparing 
to hold a consultation with Drs. Agnew and Ham- 
ilton, and that a thorough examination would take 
place at once. This was received by the crowds 
45 



CT^A THE LIFE OF PRESIDEiXT GARFIELD. 

at the gates with joy ; in presaged some Httle 
hope. How grateful the people were for even a 
little ! Certainly nothing more touching than the 
faithfulness of these crowds in front of the White 
House gates, w^as witnessed in connection with 
:;he affair.' The consultation gave but little hope. 
Yet the consulting surgeons approved of every- 
thing that had been done. As the heat of the 
day grew more pronounced, the President's con- 
dition became worse ; and unfavorable bulletins 
carried all over the land gloom and mourning. 

The heat was a bad omen for the wounded Pre- 
sident ; but his chamber was darkened, and Mrs. 
Garfield sat by his side fanning him. The ladies 
of the Cabinet relieved her from time to time. 
She was the only member of the family allowed 
to enter the sick-room. Only those who were 
called for actual service were permitted to enter. 
Absolute quiet was imperative. 

At noon, the physicians made another exami- 
nation of the wound. The result did not show 
any change for the worse, but it did not indicate 
any change for the better. The surgeons, by 
careful treatment, had succeeded in alleviating 
the paiDs in the feet, and the patient rested much 
more easily than he had since the shooting. After 
noon, a great part of the time up to 3 o'clock was 
passed in sleeping. The naps were short, seldom 
exceeding five minutes, but they were refreshing. 
After one of these short naps, while Col. Rock- 



FOURTH OF JULY. ^^r 

Avell was holding his hand, he suddenly asked : 
" What is the feelincr in the country ? " Col. 
Rockwell replied : "The country is full of sym- 
pathy for you. We are saving all the papers, so 
that you can see them when you get well ; but 
you must not talk now. You can rest assured 
that all the people are greatly concerned about 
your condition." The President smiled, turned 
over, and dozed again. 

The hours dragged themselves along on leaden 
feet. The heat grew more intense, ever exciting 
the gravest apprehensions in the minds of 
everybody as to its effect upon the sufferer. The 
ante-rooms were sweltering ; but everybody 
lingered until ^.2,0 o'clock, when another official 
bulletin was issued, describing the President's 
condition as somewhat worse. The annonnce- 
ment fell like a pall upon the listeners, and 
quickly spreading through the city, deepened the 
gloom that everywhere prevailed. The awful sus- 
pense of the Saturday before returned. Then 
came a report full of unexpected cheer. "The 
President's condition," it said, " has greatly amelio- 
rated," In an incredibly short space of time, the 
encouraging story was the topic of exciting con- 
versation everywhere. Other reports, many of 
them well authenticiated, quickly followed ; and 
the Fourth ended in a condition of universal thank- 
fulness and rejoicing befitting the nation's birthday. 

The next morninof there seemed to be more 



536 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



sunshine in life, more beauty in nature, more good- 
ness in the world — the President was better. 
During the day and the next night he held his 
own. On Wednesday, July 6th, Washington re- 
turned to its normal condidon. All business, which 
had been so rudely interrupted, went on again as 
usual ; and the bulletins, that appeared from time 
to time, were encouraging. 

The President had all along been impatient to 
see his children, who up to July 9th, had been ex- 
cluded from his room. He was, however, so well 
on that day, that it was decided to allow them to 
come in, one by one. The three children were 
called together — Harry, Jim and Mollie — and each 
was told, that a visit was to be paid to their father. 
They were cautioned not to talk, and not allow 
their father to converse. Mollie, entering the sick 
room, and brushing away a few tears, that would 
show themselves, advanced firmly to the bed. 

"My dearest girl," he said, clasping her hands 
in his. He was about to speak further, when she 
disengaged one of her hands, and placed a finger 
across his lip. He playfully attempted to bite the 
finofer, and then smiled. 

"You are a brave, good child, Mollie," he said: 
" and you must hope, that your papa will get well." 

"You will get better, papa: I know you will," 
Miss Mollie replied, trying to keep back the tears; 
" but you must not talk." 

The father held his daug-hter's hands in his, until 



RELAPSE. c ■> n 

DO/ 

she quietly slipped out of the room, knowing that 
her brothers would be impatient for the favor she 
had already enjoyed. 

The meetinof between father and sons was af- 
fecting. He grasped the right hand of Harry, 
the elder, and was evidently greatly agitated. 
The youth bore himself well, and showed no signs 
of the storm, that must have been raging within 
him. He said a few cheery words to his father ; 
and the latter responded somewhat sadly, that he 
hoped he would get better to be with his wife and 
children once more. Seeing that his presence 
seemed to affect his father, Harry withdrew ; and 
Jim was admitted. He was detained by his fa- 
ther for a lonof time ; but the President did not 
talk much, as his son would not allow him. 

From that day until Saturday, July 23d, there 
was nothing, apparendy, but a steady march to 
convalescence. The hearts of the people watched 
eagerly, closely, always, for the slightest change ; 
and they had come to the conclusion, that Provi- 
dence was on their side, and that the President 
would get well. On the 23d, came a relapse. 
About 7 o'clock, the President was seized with a 
slight chill, while the physicians were examining 
and dressing his wound. They detected a tremor 
before he complained, and instantly replaced the 
bandaees. It was 10 o'clock before the physicians 
felt justified in removing the bandages to com- 
plete the examination. Of late, while not posi- 

45* 



538 



THE LIFE OF FEESIDEAT GARFIELD. 



lively declaring him out of danger, they had aL 
lowed it to be understood, that recovery was prac- 
tically assured. The appearance of a chill at this 
time was, therefore, wholly unexpected. Dis- 
patches were at once sent to Drs. Hamilton and 
■Agnew, the consulting physicians, urging their im- 
mediate attendance. Between lo and ii o'clock, 
however, fever set in strongly, and there was a 
second chill at 1 1 o'clock. Nothing having, up to 
that time, been heard from the consultinfr sur- 
geons, a second dispatch was sent to them ; and 
replies were received early in the afternoon. At 
I o'clock a partial examination showed a pulse of 
125, and a temperature at 104, or five and a half 
degrees above normal. The pulse had fallen to 
106 at 3 o'clock, and to 100 shortly before 4 
o'clock. During the night the President rested 
well up to midnight, under the temporary relief, 
afforded by the resumption of the discharge from 
the wound, and the increased hypnotic adminis- 
tered. The recurrence of a slight chill at mid- 
night, however, showed that the difficulty was not 
all removed. 

As soon as it was possible next morning, an 
examination was made by the six surgeons. This 
showed, that a pus-cavity had formed in the track 
of the ball, near and beyond the point where it 
g'lanced from the rib, and that this cavity could be 
reached by a direct incision three inches below the 
mouth of the wound. No anaesthetics were used; 



SUj':GICAL O per ATI ox. r-.g 

but the part to be operated upon was benumbed 
by a spray of ether. A wide cut was made into the 
pus-cavity, which was reached at a depth of a httle 
more than an inch. With the aid of a probe and 
a pair of forceps, a drainage tube, which is a small 
flexible tube perforated with holes, was introduced 
into the wound made by the ball, and, after being 
carried through the pus-cavity, was brought out 
through the newly-made incision. As the pus oozed 
into the tube through the perforations, it could 
escape from either end. The tube was several 
times daily washed out with a weak solution of car- 
bolic acid and water. The discharge, which fol- 
lowed the opening of the pus-cavity, was satis- 
factory to the surgeons, and was soon followed by 
temporary relief for the patient. 

One of the difficulties, encountered by the phy- 
sicians, w^as the quesdon of temperature. It was 
decided to attempt to lower the temperature of 
the patient's room by artificial means. At first a 
simple apparatus was tried, consisting of a number 
of troughs of galvanized iron, placed on the floor 
alonor the walls and filled with water and broken 
ice. Over these troughs, corresponding with them 
in length, were suspended sheets of flannel, the 
lower edges of which were immersed in the ice- 
water, which filled the troughs. The water was 
carried upward by capillary attraction, as oil in the 
wick of a lamp, until the sheets were saturated. 
This cold water, by direct contact with air and by 



540 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



the rapid evaporation from the extended surface 
of the saturated flannel, lowered the temperature 
of the room. It did not, however, produce suffi- 
ciently good results, and was abandoned in favor of 
other methods. 

All sorts of systems were proposed and brought 
to Washington. The White House cellar was 
turned into a machine shop, and exhibited all the 
features of a machinery exhibit. Mr. Dorsey, a 
a skillful mining engineer, was placed in charge of 
the plans. Whereupon Secretary Hunt sent the 
following order to Commodore Pattison, command- 
ing the Washington Navy Yard: 

You will place at the disposal of Mr. Dorsey every article 
of machinery for which he may make application to you. 
You will also assign to duty a skillful and efi&cient engineer 
and machinist, with such other assistants as he may re- 
quire from you. You will obtain all necessary transporta- 
tion of material and men Mr. Dorsey may require. They 
must be furnished without delay, as they are for the use of 
surgeons at the Executive Mansion, and are deemed necessary 
to the health and comfort of the President during his present 
critical illness. 

Mr. Dorsey's plan was based on the system 
used to cool the air in mines. The air, compressed 
by means of a stationary engine, gives out a great 
amount of heat, which is carried away by running 
water. As soon as the air is again set free, it be- 
comes refrigerated by expansion, just in propor- 
tion as it has before been heated by compression. 
The system worked very successfully, and by its 



COOLIXG THE ROOAr. -.- 

541 

means the temperature of the room was kept at 
75° or ^^\ 

The cure was ver)^ largely assisted by the 
President himself. With a noble will-power and 
a splendid courage, he fought disease every 
minute, and defied Death. All the while he was 
cheerful to every one. One day, on awakening 
from one of his short naps, he was given two 
ounces of chicken broth. After he had eaten it, 
Mr. Crump, the White House steward, took the 
bowl away, and, seating himself by the bed, began 
to fan him vigorously. The President at this time 
was thirsting for water. After lookine at Mr. 
Crump quizzically for a few moments, he said : 
"Crump, after the chicken broth what comes?" 
The steward made no answer, apparently forget- 
ting for the moment, that the President was ac- 
customed to drink after eatinof. After a brief 
silence, General Garfield said, interrogatively: 
"Medicine or water ? " Crump took the hint, and 
gave him a sip of water. After drinking it the 
President gratified the steward by clapping his 
hands in applause. Saturday morning, the 9th, 
Dr. Boynton, his wife's physician, went in to see 
him. The President, with a smile, said to him: 

" Boynton, I am glad you are here yet. What 
do you think of my chances to-day ?" 

" Oh, I think you are getting along very nicely, 
indeed. Everything seems favorable for your re- 
covery." 



e . 2 ^-^^^ ^^^'^" ^^'" ^^J^SWEXT G A J^ FIELD. 

" I will recover, Boynton ; but I've had a terrible 
struggle with prostration for several days." 

" But you seem to have conquered." 

" Do you think so ?" 

And then, glancing at the clock, he said : " In 
fifteen minutes it will be a week — a long week, 
Boynton." 

When first wounded, his thought was of his 
loved wife and litde ones, and how to spare them 
pain. I have related elsewhere that he sent a 
dispatch to his wife in the earliest minutes of his 
trial. After her, his mother's anxiety was upper- 
most in his mind By his direction, Harry, his 
eldest son, sent the following comforting telegram 
to his grandmother: 

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, 

July 2d, 1 88 1. 
To Mrs. Elizi Garfield, Solon, Ohio : 

Don't be alarmed by sensational rumors. Doctor thinks it 
will not be fatal. Don't think of coming until you hear 
further. Harry A. Garfield. 

During the periods of the sufferer's severest 
pains, there was, on his part, the most tender con- 
sideration for others. His demeanor toward his 
noble-hearted wife was chivalrous in its best sense. 
He ever sought her ease and welfare, and en- 
deavored to keep her from anxiety and suspense. 
When she first entered his room, he met her with 
a smilinor face ; and he had a smile and a word oi 



A WIFE'S DEVOTION. 



543 



cheer ever afterward, even though his sufferings 
were at times very great. 

Next to the good effect of his own spirits as a 
curative agent, must be placed the invincible faith 
and devotion of his wife. Her cheerful, hopeful 
demeanor did much to free her husband's mind 
from care. She had just risen from a bed of sick- 
ness ; and he was afraid that she would have a 
relapse. She, poor woman, knowing his fear 
steeled herself by a mighty effort. Conquering 
everything, she took up her new burden with the 
strength of a devoted heart, and carried it with the 
bravery of a martyr. The few persons, who were 
admitted to the chamber of pain — the doctors, the 
watchers and the nearest of kin — bore unconscious 
testimony to the conduct of the first gentleman and 
first lady of the land. All were only too willing 
to help embalm in the memory of friends the 
ministry of love and gentleness of kindness and 
of devotion which the national Executive Mansion 
disclosed. 



KK 



CHAPTER XL. 



THE WORLD WITHOUT. 



A 



FTER the first moments of amazement 
and horror, the people — the world — 
offered condolence. The emotion and 
spectacle were without parallel. In every house- 
hold there was a hushed and tender silence, as if 
one long-loved lay dying-. The popular grief was 
absolutely universal. The festivities of the Nation's 
birthday were stayed ; and the crowds, that had 
gathered for festivals, were transformed into pray- 
ing congregations, earnestly petitioning the Throne 
of Grace for mercy for the President. One tender, 
overpowering thought called a truce to party-con- 
tention. Abroad, American gaiety was given over. 
In the British Parliament, Whig, Tory and Radical 
listened to catch from the lips of the Prime 
Minister the latest tidinofs from the sufferer. 
From the French Republic, from the Patriarch- 
dom of Armenia, from the old empire of Japan 
and the new kingdom of Bulgaria, from Parnell, 
the Irish agitator, and from the Lord Mayor of 
Dublin came messages of sympathy and sorrow. 
Sovereigns and subjects, nobles and peasants, 
joined in earnest hope for the life of the Republi- 

(544) 



EXPRESSIONS OE SYMPATHY. 



545 



can President. The press of all Christendom told 
the mournful story. 

It was a marvelous spectacle — this feeling of 
millions for one man. It blessed him with great 
distinction among mankind. It blessed the 
country, stirring the people with a great overmas- 
tering emotion. I have not space to chronicle all 
the words of sympathy, that came on the wings 
of the wires to Washington. They would fill 
several volumes as large as this. In London, the 
shooting of the President excited the profoundest 
sensation of consternation and grief among the 
American residents. The offices of newspapers 
and news-agencies were visited by crowds to gain 
information. Crowds gathered at the American 
Exchange in the Strand. As the news spread 
among the theatres and other places of resort, the 
Americans left the buildings; and many ladies 
and gentlemen, in evening dresses, went direct to 
the American Exchange for the latest details. 
There were numerous callers at United States 
Minister Lowell's private residence, to inquire 
concerning the President. Earl Granville, 
Foreign Secretary, received a telegram from the 
British Legation at Washington, announcing the 
sad affair ; and he at once cabled his condolences. 
The Queen, who was at Windsor Casde, imme- 
diately, on receipt of the news, personally tele- 
graphed to Minister Lowell a message expressing 
deep regret and concern. The Town Councils of 
46 



546 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



/nany inland towns passed resolutions of sym- 
pathy. In the British Parliament allusions were 
made to the affair amidst profound silence and 
regret. The Poet Laureate telegraphed his con- 
dolences. The members of the Royal Family 
sent to our Minister for full particulars. The 
Cobden Club forwarded a letter to Mrs. Garfield, 
expressing their earnest wish for the President's 
early recovery. Prayers were ordered daily in 
Westminster Abbey. The Lord Mayor of Lon- 
don telegraphed his condolences. Mr. Gladstone 
sent the following letter to Mrs. Garfield : 

o 

London, July 21st, 1881. 
Dear Madam : You will, I am sure, excuse me, though a 
personal stranger, for addressing you by letter to convey to 
you the assurance of my own feelings and those of my country- 
men, on the occasion of the late horrible attempt to murder 
the President of the United States, in a form more palpable, 
at least, than that of messages conveyed by telegraph. Those 
feelings have been feelings, in the first instance, of sympathy, 
and afterwards of joy and thankfulness almost comparable, 
and, I ventnre to say, only second to the strong emotions of 
the great nation, of which he is the appointed head. Individ- 
ually, I have, let me beg you to believe, had my full share in 
the sentiments, which have possessed the British nation. They 
have been prompted and quickened largely by what, I venture 
to think, is the ever-growing sense of harmony and mutual 
respect and affection between the countries, and of a relation- 
ship, which, from year to year, becomes more and more a 
practical bond of union between us; but they have also 
drawn much of their strength from a cordial admiration of 
the simple heroism, which has marked the personal conduct of 
the President ; for we have not yet wholly lost the capacity of 



LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE. - . _ 

appreciating such an example of Christian faith and manly 
fortitude. This exemplary picture has been made complete 
by your own contributions to its noble and touching features, 
on which I only forbear to dwell because I am directly ad- 
dressing you. I beg to have my respectful compliments and 
congratulations conveyed to the President, and to remain, 
dear madam, with great esteem, 

Your most faithful servant, 

W. E. Gladstone. j 

To this Secretary Blaine replied by cable : 

Washington, July 2 2d 1881. 
Lowell, Minister, London : I have laid before Mrs. Gar- 
field the note of Mr. Gladstone, just received * * j 
am requested by her to say, that among the many thousand 
manifestations of interest and expressions of sympathy, which 
have reached her, none had more deeply tpuched her than 
the kind words of Mr, Gladstone. His own solicitude and 
condolence are received with gratitude. But far beyond this 
she recognized, that Mr. Gladstone rightfully speaks for the 
people of the British Isles, whose sympathy in this national 
and personal affliction has been as quick and as sincere as that 
of her own countrymen. Her chief pleasure in Mr. Glad- 
stone's cordial letter is found in the comfort, wliich it brings 
to her husband. The President is cheered and pleased on 
his painful and weary way to health by the many messages 01 
sympathy which, in his returning strength, he safely receives 
and most gratetully appreciates. 

Blaine, Secretary. 

On the Continent, the head of every country 
hastened to offer sympathy. The Emperors 01 
Austria and Germany ; the Kings of Sweden and 
Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and 
Spain ; the Czar of Russia ; the Sultan of Turkey : 



548 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



the Presidents of France and Switzerland ; hun- 
dreds of statesmen and distincruished men sent 
throuoh various channels to Washington kind 
words and wishes from sympathetic hearts. 

At home, the universal expression of sympathy 
found appropriate channels in the governors of 
States, Mayors ofcities, legislatures, boards of trade, 
clubs, associations, conventions of every descrip- 
tion, grand juries, churches, etc., etc. The Souh 
particularly manifested a most noble sympathy. 
Governor R. W. Cobb, of Alabama, telegraphed : 

Reports of the favorable indications gladden the hearts of 
Alabamans, who profoundly sympathize with the President 
and his family, and bitterly denounce the cowardly and bru- 
tal attempt on his life. The great peril, through which he 
is passing draws all men to him ; and he will resume his du- 
ties with a more generous and patriotic support from the peo- 
ple of the whole country. 

Congressman E. W. Robertson telegraphed 
from Baton Rouge, Louisiana : 

The heartfelt, outspoken sorrow of our people at the late 
dastardly attempt upon the life of tlie President, prompts me 
to express their prayerful hopes for his speedy recovery. 

The Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army 
of the Republic promulgated the following order: 

Head-quarters Grand Army of the Republic, 
Boston, July yth, iSSi. 
[General Order, No. 42.] 

Awaiting the fateful issue, which hangs like a pall over 
our land, grateful for the glimpse of sunshine through the 



THE BEXCIl AND rULPlT. . . r^g 

dark cloud, the soldiers of the Grand Army of the R.-jpublic 
tender their old comrade in arms, the stricken President, their 
sympathy and love. What lies behind the veil of the future 
we may not seek to know; but, remembering, that the same 
Almighty, who guided us to victory, is beside our fallen com- 
rade, let us cast out all our fears, and send to the throne of 
grace, not a cry of despair, but a prayer of hope and faith in 
the Divine wisdom and love. 
(Signed) 

Geo. S. Merrill, Commander-in-Chief. 
William M. Olin, Adjutant-General. 

The bench took notice of the national calamity. 
Said Judge Ludlow of Philadelphia, in charging 
the Grand Jury for the July Term : 

We meet to-day under adverse circumstances; we are 
under the shadow of a great cloud, and our hearts beat with 
alternate hope and fear ; we do not yet know what the end will, 
be, but this we all understand, that law and order must pre- 
vail ; that the constituted authorities must be respected and 
sustained ; and woe betide the man, who dare to raise even so' 
much as his little finger against the integrity of the Republic 
or against the life or lives of its lawfully elected officers. I 
care not what may be your politics, faith, or religious feelings. 
I know this, that as Americans, you represent not only the 
citizens of this country, but, in a sense, Americans every- 
where all over this land, and you will join with me in as 
severe a condemnation of this anti-American crime, as can be 
uttered in human language, and in a devout prayer to the 
Almighty, that the life of tlie legally elected and inaugurated 
President of the United States may be spared to the nation 
and to his family. 

The church was equally ready. Prayers were 
offered in every pulpit in the land. Special services 
46==' 



550 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



were held, imploring the Almighty to spare the 
President's life. 

The movement of sympathy was indeed uni- 
versal from more than one hundred millions of men. 
It was expected, as a matter of course, that those 
closely identified with him by long years of per- 
sonal and political association, would, out of the 
fullness of their affection, mingle their tears with 
those of his kindred ; but that so eager inquiries 
and tender messages of sympathy should come 
from all over the world, is the most welcome evi- 
dence that all the world's akin. From every nook 
and corner of our land messages were sent, 
freighted with loving regard ; and the cables, 
which lay beneath the ocean, were kept busy 
night and day, transmitting the sympathy of the 
rulers, and princes, and peoples of all civilized 
nations of the globe. 



CHAPTER XLI. 



THE MISCREANT. 



CHARLES JULES GUITEAU, the assassin, 
is a man of about forty years of age, of 
French descent. He is five feet five inches 
in height, of sandy complexion, and slender. He 
wears a mustache and thin chin whiskers, slightly 
tinged with gray. His sunken cheeks and widely 
separated eyes give him a sullen appearance. He 
has for some years been a person of disordered 
mind and resdess habits. Nominally he is a law- 
yer, although it does not appear, that he ever had 
any practice except among persons of the lowest 
social and moral rank. His reputation was bad, 
wherever he went. He was at times a religious 
enthusiast. In the summer of 1880, he turned 
his attention to politics, apparcndy in the hope of 
gaining some political prelerment. 

One, who knows him, gives this account of him: 
" He appears to have been the only one of the 
children tainted with his father's eccentricities. 
When the family left the Oneida Community, 
Charles, then fifteen or sixteen, years old, was left 
behind. He afterward went to Chicago, where he 
studied law, being cared for, and supplied with 
money, by his father. After completing his studies, 

(551J 



552 



THE LIFE OF J' RESIDE NT GARFIELD. 



Giilteau went to Europe, where ne traveled 
several years, imbibing Socialistic and other 
eccentric doctrines. A few years ago he re- 
turned to this country, and lectured on the second 
advent of Christ. He published a pamphlet on 
the subject, In which the egotism of the man was 
plainly shown. He spoke of himself as a messen- 
ger of God to announce His coming. His lec- 
tures on this subject were a failure. 

The assassin's reasons for the dastardly deed 
are given in the following letter, found in his pos- 
session : 

July 2d, 1881. 
To the IVJiite House : 

The President's tragic death was a sad necessity, but it will 
unite the Republican party, and save the Republic. Life is 
a flimsy dream, and it matters little where one goes. A hu- 
man life is of small value. During the war thousands of brave 
boys went down without a tear. I presume the President was 
a Christian, and that he will be happier in Paradise than here. 
It will be no worse for Mrs. Garfield, dear soul, to part with 
her husband this way than by natural death. He is liable to 
go at any time, anyway. I had no ill-will toward the Presi- 
dent. His death was a political necessity. I am a lawyer, 
a theologian and a politician. I am a Stalwart of the Stal- 
warts. I was with General Grant and the rest of our men, 
iw New York, during the canvass. I have some papers for 
the press, which I shall leave with Byron Andrews, and his 
co-journalists, at 1420 New York Avenue, where all the re- 
porters can see them. I am going to the jail. 

Charles Guiteau. 

The followlmg letter was found soon after Gui- 
teau's arrest, with the envelope unsealed and ad- 




THE ASSASSIN IN HIS CELL. 



GVITEAU'S STORY. 



555 



dressed : " Please deliver at once to General 
Sherman, or his first assistant in charge of the 
War Department:" 

To General Sherman : 

I have just shot the President. I shot him several times, as 
I wished him to go as easily as possible. His death was a 
political necessity. I am a lawyer, theologian and politician. 
I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts. I was with General Grant 
and the rest of our men, in New York, during the canvass. 
I am going to the jail. Please order out your troops, and 
take possession of the jail at once. 

Very respectfully, Charles Guiteau. 

Detective McElfresh, who took charge of the 
prisoner, reported the following conversation, 
which occurred between Guiteau and himself, 
while they were on their way to the jail : 

"Where are you from ?" 

" I am a native-born American — born in Chicago 
— and am a lawyer and theologian." 

" Why did you do this ?" 

" I did it to save the Republican party ?" 

"Wliat are your politics ?" 

"lam a Stalwart among the Stalwarts. With 
Garfield out of the way, we can carry all the 
Northern States ; and with him in the way, we 
can't carry a single one." 

Upon learning that McElfresh was a detective, 
Guiteau said : " You stick to mc, and have me put 
in the third story, front, at the jail. General 



556 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Sherman is cominof down to taKe charo-e. When 
you go back to the depot, you will find, that I left 
two bundles of papers at the news stand which 
will explain all." 

" Is there anybody else with you in this mat- 
ter?" 

"Not a living soul. I have contemplated the 
thing for the last six weeks, and would have shot 
him when he went away with Mrs. Garfield ; but 
I looked at her ; and she looked so bad, that I 
changed my mind." 

Further light was thrown upon Guiteau by a 
statement from District-Attorney Corkhill, who, 
after a patient investigation, issued the follow- 



The interest, felt by the public in the details of the assassi- 
nation, and the many stories published, justify me in stating, 
that the following is a correct and accurate statement, con- 
cerning the points to Avhich reference is made : The assassin, 
Charles Guiteau, came to Washington city on Sunday even- 
ing, March 6th, 1881, and stopped at the Ebbitt House, re- 
maining only one day. He then secured a room in another 
part of the city, and had boarded and roomed at various 
places, the full details of which I have. On Wednesday, 
May i8th, 18S1, the assassin determined to murder the Presi- 
dent. He had neither money nor pistol at the time. About 
the last of May he went into O'Meara's store, corner of 
Fifteenth and F Streets, this city, and examined some pistols, 
asking for the largest calibre. He was shown two similar in 
calibre, and only different in the price. On Wednesday, 
June 8th, he purchased a pistol, for whicii he paid ^10, 
having, in the meantime, borrowed $15 of a gentleman in this 



CORKIIILL'S STATEMENT. ccy 

city, on th(. plea that he wanted to pay his board bill. On 
the same evening, about 7 o'clock, he took the pistol and 
went to the foot of Seventeenth Street, and practiced firing at 
a board, firing ten shots. He then returned to his boarding 
place and wiped the pistol dry, and wrapped it in his coat, 
and waited his opportunity. On Sunday morning, June 15th, 
he was sitting in Lafayette Park, and saw the President leave 
for the Christian Church on Vermont Avenue; and heat once 
returned to his room, obtained his pistol, put it in his pocket 
and followed the President to church. He entered the church ; 
but found he could not kill him there without danger of 
killing some one else. He noticed, that the President sat 
near a window. After church he made an examination of the 
window, and found he could reach it without any trouble, and 
that from this point he could shoot the President through the 
head without killing any one else. The following Wednesday 
he went to the church, examined the location and the window, 
and became satisfied he could accomplish his purpose. He 
determined to make the attempt at the church the following 
Sunday. Learning from the papers that the President would 
leave the city on Saturday, the iSth of June, with Mrs. Gar- 
field, for Long Branch, he, therefore, decided to meet him a^ 
the depot. He left his boarding place about 5 o'clock Satur- 
day morning, June i8th, and went down to the. river at the 
foot of Seventeenth Street, and fired five shots to practice 
his aim, and be certain his pistol was in good order. He then 
went to the depot, and was in the ladies' waiting-room of the 
depot, with his pistol ready, when the presidential party 
entered. He says Mrs. Garfield looked so weak and frail, 
that he had not the heart to shoot the President in her pre- 
sence ; and, as he knew he would have another opportunity, 
he left the depot. He had previously engaged a carriage to 
take him to the jail. On Wednesday evening, the President 
and his son, and, I think. United States Marshal Henry, went 
out for a ride. The assassin took his pistol and followed them, 
and watched them for some time, in hopes the carriage would 

47 



558 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



stopj but no opportunity was given. On Friday evening, 
July I St, he was sitting on the seat in the park opposite the 
White House, when he saw the President come out alone. He 
followed him down the avenue to Fifteenth Street, and then 
kept on the opposite side of the street upon Fifteenth, until 
the President entered the residence of Secretary Blaine. He 
waited at the corner of Fifteenth and H Streets for some time; 
and then, as he was afraid he would attract attention, he went 
into the alley in the rear of Mr. Morton's residence, examined 
his pistol and waited. The President and Secretary Blaine 
came out together ; and he followed over to the gate of the 
White House, but conld get no opportunity to use his weapon. 
On the morning of Saturday, July 2d, he breakfasted at the 
Riggs House about 7 o'clock. He then walked up into the 
park, and sat there for an hour. He then took a horse car 
and rode to Sixth Street, got out and went into the depot, 
and loitered around there ; had his shoes blacked ; engaged 
a hackman for %2 to take him to the jail; went into the 
closet and took his pistol out of his hip-pocket, and un- 
wrapped the paper from around it, which he had put there 
for the purpose of preventing the perspiration from the body 
dampening the powder ; examined his pistol ; carefully tried 
the trigger ; and then returned and took a seat in the ladies' 
waiting-room, and, as soon as the President entered, advanced 
behind him and fired two shots. 

These facts, I think, can be relied upon as accurate ; and I 
give them to the public to contradict certain false rumors in 
connection with the most atrocious of atrocious crimes. 

It is well known, that General Garfield, althouofh 
he was too buoyant of disposition to be weakly 
superstitious, had on several occasions suggested 
the possibility of an attempt upon his life. And 
this idea, without being seriously entertained, had 
occurred to several of his friends, especially dur- 



ASSASS/A'A TIOX FOKL^IiADOU ED. - rg 

ing the heat of the political campaign of 1880. 
When, however, the happy results of his decisive 
election were seen, the idea faded from the minds 
of almost every one. In view of the terrible 
issue of Guiteau's assault, the following words, 
uttered by General Garfield within a year of the 
firing of the fatal shot, are very significant: "I 
have always supposed, that a man, who occupies 
so exalted and powerful position, as does the 
President of the United States, must exert a fatal 
fascination over a man of morbid mind, who seeks 
his life for revenge or any other motive." 



LL 



CHAPTER XLII. 

THE VALLEY OK THE SHADOW OF DEATH. 

ON the 26th of July, inasmuch as the opera- 
tion of the 23d had not produced as de- 
cided an improvement as had been ex- 
pected, the opening between the fractured ribs 
was enlarged ; and a portion of detached bone 
was removed. The result of this operation was 
a freer discharge of pus ; and the doctors for sev- 
eral days reported the President as doing well. 

On August 6th, unfavorable symptoms — a rise 
in temperature and an acceleration of the pulse — 
were noticeable. These could not be accounted 
for, except on the supposition, that another pus- 
cavity was in process of formation, or had already 
formed. On Auofust 8th, the suro^eons decided to 
operate again. The necessity for the operation 
was apparent to the surgeons the day before, 
when they found, that a drainage-tube of the size 
hitherto used could no longer be passed along 
the track of the ball between the ribs. The pro- 
cess of granulation at this point had gone on so 
far as to partially close the orifice ; and the ribs 
Drevented the pushing aside of the flesh, and the 
mtroduction of the tube. The result was, that 

(560) 



Ai:OTHER OPLRATIOX. 



561 



pus formed in the deeper parts of the wound 
faster, than it could escape through the half- 
obstructed opening between the ribs, and that its 
gradual accumulation began to cause disturbance. 
It was, therefore, decided to make a new opening 
into the track of the ball below the last rib, so 
that the ribs should no longer prevent the keep- 
ing open of the wound by the solid backing, 
which they afforded to the granulating flesh be- 
tween them. The operation was performed, at 
the request of the other surgeons, by Dr. Agnew. 
As soon as the patient had been put under the in- 
fluence of ether, a long and slighdy-curved instru- 
ment was introduced into the wound, pushed be- 
tween the ribs, and carried downw^ard along the 
track of the bullet, until its end could be felt from 
the outside below the last rib. Holding this in- 
strument in the wound as a guide, Dr. Agnew ex- 
tended the incision previously made, cutting down- 
ward through the intec^ument, until his knife met 
the end of the instrument at the point, where he 
wished to intersect the track of the ball. The oper- 
ation was not difficult or dangerous ; and the pa- 
tient bore it extremely well. 

Then again there were perceptible signs of rc- 
cover>\ The doctors spoke encouragingly ; and 
the old confidence of the people, that God would 
save their beloved President, returned in full force. 
On the nth, feeling somewhat brighter, with ex- 
ceeding difficulty the President wrote a letter to 

47* 



562 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



his aged mother — a few sentences of cheer and 
hope. On the 14th, nausea set in ; and the 
stomach refused to retain food. The vomitinewas 
very debiHtating in its effects. Throughout the 
1 5th the prospect was dark and dreary. The only 
nourishment given the following day was by food- 
injections. By the 17th, he had in his own mira- 
culous way rallied a little, and the improvement of 
the stomach was noticeable on the 1 8th, although 
the nutritive injections were continued at gradu- 
ally increasing intervals until the 23d. But on 
the 1 8th a new complication became apparent. 
The right parotid gland (situated in the face just 
forward of the ear), began to $well. At first no- 
thing was thought of it ; and the surgeons did not 
see in it any cause of apprehension. One of the 
doctors thus described the patient's condition on 
the evening of the 2 2d. "With a single impor- 
tant exception, the signs of improvement are of a 
negative character. The important exception is 
the stomach. During the day the President has 
been able to take and to retain a considerable 
quantity, twenty-two ounces, of liquid nourishment 
without any uneasiness. * * * Of course this 
scandly nutritious fluid has not done much to 
give strength to the patient. It has served litde 
purpose except to show, that there is hope that 
the stomach may regain its tone, and do the work 
of building up, that is essential to the recovery of 
the patient. 



I 



BETWEEN LIFE AND DEAIII. 



563 



The general public felt no more sanguine of 
the result on the 25th than on the day preceding. 
The period of prostration, through which he was 
passing, was complicated by the failure of the 
stomach. This had been partially restored to 
strength; and now it was a question of his staying 
powers, w^hether he would advance toward con- 
valescence. The extreme weakness was occa- 
sioned by the stomach trouble and impoverishment 
of the blood ; and to the latter condition the 
parotid swelling was due. This was the explana- 
tion of the attending surgeons. But many physi- 
cians claimed, that the weakness, and the condition 
of the stomach and parotid gland were due to 
septicaemia, or blood-poisoning. The fears of the 
people were based largely upon the pulse, tem- 
perature and respiration, all of which, had been 
growing steadily worse since the 13th, as the fol- 
lowine table will show : 







Pulse. 




Temperature. 


Res 


pirat 


[on. 




c 


c 






c 




c 


c 






u 








\^ 





ijj 


u 
















> 


Q 





^ 








> 




:s 


^ 


W 




'A 


W 


s 


^; 


W 


Saturday, 13 . . 


. 104 


102 


104 


100.8 


992 


100.7 


19 


18 


19 


Sunday, 14 . . 


. 100 


96 


108 


99.8 


99-3 


100.8 


18 


18 


»9 


Monday, 15 . . 


. loS 


118 


130 


100.2 


99.0 


99.6 


20 


19 


22 


Tuesday, 16 . . 


. no 


114 


120 


9S5 


98.3 


989 


18 


18 


19 


Wednesday, 17 . 


. no 


:i2 


112 


9S.3 


98.7 


98.8 


18 


18 


18 


Thursday, 'iS . . 


. 104 


108 


108 


9S.8 


9S.4 


1 00.0 


17 


18 


18 


Friday, 19 . . . 


100 


106 


106 


98.4 


988 


lOO.O 


17 


17 


18 


Saturday, 20 . . 


■ 98 


107 


no 


98.4 


98.4 


100.4 


18 


18 


19 


Sunday, 21 . . 


. 106 


108 


108 


98.8 


99-4 


992 


18 


18 


18 


Monday, 22 . 


. 104 


104 


no 


9S.4 


98.4 


1 00. 1 


18 


iS 


19 


Tuesday, 23 . . 


. I05 


104 


104 


98.4 


9S9 


99.2 


18 


iS 


19 


Wednesday, 24 . 


. .100 


104 


108 


9S.5 


99.2 


100.7 


17 


•7 


>9 



564 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



The heat at this time was intense. On the 
25th, the subject of the removal of the President 
to a cooler atmosphere was considered by the 
surgeons; and a majority decided, that removal 
would be attended with too much risk. The situ- 
ation was thus described by one of the watchers 
at the bedside on the evening of this day : 

"It is apparent, * * :== notwithstanding the 
fact, that the President seems to be holding his 
own in the terrible struesrlc', in which he is now 
engaged, that the prevalent feeling is one of un- 
certainty; and this feeling is attributable mainly 
to the apprehension entertained as to the termi- 
nation of the glandular trouble, and the effect it 
may have on the wasted and debilitated patient." 

On Friday, the 26th, he was worse. He showed 
occasionally mental confusion, especially after 
rousing from sleep; and during sleep he muttered 
at times. There was a general feelinij, that nothing- 
stood between him and death except the prayers 
of the people. And the people prayed as never 
people prayed before. Saturday morning there 
came a change for the better; Sunday and Mon- 
day it was maintained; and by Wednesday, the 
31st, hope was fully restored to a praying people, 
that the President was once more out of the 
Valley of the Shadow of Death. It was, however, 
recognized, that the beloved sufferer was still in a 
most precarious condition, and that to avoid the 
dangers, that still beset his path to recovery, he 



REMOVAL FJiOM WASHINGTON. 



565 



must be taken away from Washington. The heat 
became so severe, that healthy men were affected 
by it. No rain had fallen for weeks; the city was 
like an oven; the air was full of sultry heat; it 
was difficult to breathe ; and the nights brought 
almost no relief. Consultations were held by the 
doctors; and it was decided to remove the patient, 
as soon as he was able to bear the journey, to 
some northern place, where he could have the 
benefit of the cool sea-breeze. Long Branch 
was unanimously chosen, especially because the 
President had more than once expressed a long- 
ing to be there; and preparations for the re- 
moval began. 

By Monday night, September 5 th, every arrange- 
ment was in readiness. Early on the morning of 
the 6th, the indications around the White House 
pointed to something unusual. By 4.45 it began 
to grow light; and the crowd, that had lingered at 
the gates all night, had swollen into a multitude 
of silent, anxious spectators. The carriages, that 
were to convey the Presidential party to the train, 
filed in, and took their places before the White 
House. The President had slept well, and was 
amply prepared. He was, indeed, anxious to be 
away. When he was ready to be moved, the 
mattress (a rubber-bag filled with water), on 
which he lay, was placed upon a litter, which had 
been constructed at the Government shops. The 
litter was so constructed, that, when he was placed 



566 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



upon it and carried down the main stairway into 
the lower hall, ituniformly maintained a horizontal 
position. When the President was almost down- 
stairs, the family hastily entered the carriages to 
precede the wagon bearing the wounded man. In 
the first carriage, that led the mournful procession 
to the depot, rode Mrs. Garfield, Miss Mollie Gar- 
field, Miss Edson, and a female attendant. In the 
next carriacre were the servants; and others of 
the party followed. No sooner had these driven 
away, than the party, bearing the litter, appeared 
in the doorway. The litter was borne by Dr, 
Boynton, Dr. Bliss, Colonel Rockwell, General 
Swaim and Mr. O. C. Rockwell. It took but a 
moment to place iton the spring platform arranged 
for its reception. The bed of the wagon was 
wide enoucrh to allow the litter-bearers to sit on 
the edge of the boards; and they took their places 
within the vehicle. Then the horses were attached ; 
and the wagon moved slowly, gently, between two 
lines of reverent, hatless, silent people, who had 
gathered to show their profound respect for their 
beloved chief. 

Without accident the station was reached, and 
the patient sufferer transferred to the special car, 
that had been prepared by the thoughtfulness of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Then the 
train started on its memorable trip. First came 
engine No. 628, with Engineer Page in charge, 
then the special car, then Colonel Scott's private 



I 



AT LONG BRANCH. 



569 



car. The train, with its precious burden, at 6.46 
A. M., started away for Long Branch, arriving 
there at 1.20 P. M. 

The cottage, selected for the President's use, 
was that owned by Mr. C. G. Francklyn, hardly a 
hundred yards from the sea. When he was placed 
in his room fronting the ocean, his pulse was 102; 
when he left Washington it was 114. It was evi- 
dent, that he had borne the journey extremely 
well. The people felt, that he had only to reach 
the seaside to start on his way to recovery. Yet, 
as was anticipated, in consequence of the long 
journey on a sultry day, there was some reaction 
toward evening, which was indicated by a rise of 
temperature and an increase of pulse. During 
the day, prayers were oftered in many States and 
in hundreds of churches, by proclamation of the 
different Governors upon Gov. Hoyt's initiative. 
Thousands upon thousands knelt in supplication 
to the Almighty, as the President was swifdy borne 
to the haven, for which he had yearned. The first 
bulletin of Wednesday morning seemed indeed a 
justification of the people's hopes and prayers. 
The President had slept well, and taken his nour- 
ishment successfully ; his fever had left him; and 
the fatigue of his journey had disappeared under 
the influences of the breeze, that swept from the 
Ocean into his room. 

The eyes of all the world were bent upon Long 
Branch ; and all information was eagerly sought. 
48 



570 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Although the physicians continued to issue hope- 
ful bulletins, the people could not shake off their 
feelings of gloomy despondency. They read in 
the bulletin of September 15th: "In reviewing 
the case of the President since his arrival at Long 
Branch, it may be said, that in spite of the various 
septic accidents, which have for several weeks, and 
do still complicate his case, he has certainly not 
retrograded, but on the contrary has made some 
progress toward convalescence." They were 
gratified at the change from his bed to the reclin- 
ing chair, at the gradual disappearance of the 
parotid trouble, at the reported favorable progress 
of his wound ; but they were not assured by see- 
ing the marked improvement, which they had ex- 
pected from his removal to the sea-shore. The 
cough with purulent expectoration and the mental 
aberration were ominous siofns. On the evening of 
the 1 6th, the physicians admitted : " Altogether 
his general condition can not be said to be im- 
proved." On the 1 7th, shortly before noon, he 
had a severe chill of a half hour's duration ; and 
Dr. Bliss said to Dr. Agnew : " I am in constant 
fear of some danger impending." At the same 
time he said to members of the family : " There 
is a gravity in this case, that portends serious 
trouble." This suspense continued during the 
following day. The President himself realized 
his condition. On this day (the iSth), addressing 
Colonel Rockwell, he asked : " Old boy ! do you 



i 



THE LAST HOURS. c - t 

5/3 

think my name will have a place in human his- 
tory ?" " Yes," the Colonel answered, " a grand 
one, but a grander place in human hearts ! Old 
fellow ! you mustn't talk in that way. You have 
a great work yet to perform." Reflecting a mo- 
ment, the President replied sadly: '■'No! my 
work is doner In the evening of this day there 
was another chill; and a severer one on the morn- 
ing of the 19th. During this chill and the fever, 
which followed, he was unconscious. He rallied 
before noon, and passed a comfortable afternoon. 
His extraordinary vitality was such, that, when his 
physicians saw him sleeping quietly at 9 o'clock 
in the evening, they anticipated a comfortable 
night for him. Mrs. Garfield also, when urged 
later to take needed rest, replied : " The General 
seems so comfortable and quiet, that it has rested 
me to remain." And yet within two hours this 
quiet sleep ended in the quieter sleep of death ! 
A litde after 9 P. M., Dr. Bliss entered the sick- 
room. Gen. Swaim had begun his night-watch. 
Mrs. Garfield had retired. Dr. Bliss, having count- 
ed the President's pulse, withdrew. A half-hour 
later, the weary sufferer awoke, and said sadly : " O 
Swaim, there is a pain here !" and he put his hand 
upon his heart. General Swaim stood over the 
patient, when he spoke again : *' Oh ! oh ! 
Swaim." The name, which began so strong on 
his lips, died into a death-whisper, before it 
was finished. Dr. Bliss, coming in at this mo- 
48* 



574 



THE LIFE OF PRESWEXT GARFIELD. 



ment, recognized the. seal of death. Sending 
hurriedly, he summoned the family and physicians. 
Col. Rockwell was the first to arrive, followed im- 
mediately by Mrs. Garfield. Bending over her 
dying husband and kissing his brow, she said in 
tones of anguish : *' Oh ! why am I made to suf- 
fer this cruel wrong ?" Around the bedside with 
overflowinor hearts were Dr. Bliss, Dr. Acrnew, 
Colonel Rockwell, General Swaim, Mrs. Rock- 
well, Miss Rockwell, Private Secretary Brown, Dr. 
Boynton and Mr. C. O. Rockwell. Miss Mollie 
Garfield was beside her mother, convulsed with 
grief The doctors attempted to revive the dying 
man. The wrists were pulseless ; and the beating 
of the heart could scarcely be heard. Slowly the 
once strong man released his hold upon life ; and 
the long, weary struggle ended. "There was no 
sound — not even of weeping. All hearts were stilled. 
Noiselessly, one by one, all passed out, leaving the 
broken-hearted wife alone with her dead husband." 
Thus at 10.35 P- M., September 19th, 1S81, 
closed the saddest story in the history of the Re- 
public. On the wings of lightning the news of 
the awful calamity, spread, north, east, south, west, 
leavincr a broad track of universal eloom. Never 
was a message so bitter, so hard, so sad. No one 
could realize, that the President was dead — that 
the bright face and the brave words of James 
Abram Garfield would be seen and heard no 
more. The sad news winged its way westward 



THE SAD NEWS. ,-- 

J/ / 

only to carry grief into every liouscholcl. The 
dead President's mother was at the home of her 
son-in-law at Solon, Ohio. The family had retired 
to rest with but litde hope. \'er}' early in the 
morning a messenger appeared with die fatal 
news. " Grandma" Garfield was not awake ; and 
it was at once concluded to wait, until she had 
arisen and taken her breakfast, before telling her, 
that her boy, the pride of her life, had gone home 
to his Maker. The rest of the relatives were in- 
formed ; and the query arose: " Who will break 
the news to mother ?" Mrs. Larabee's sister, Mary, 
was finally chosen ; but herheart failed her. About 
8 o'clock Mrs. Garfield arose, and spent some 
time in reading her Bible, as is her custom. Then 
she went into the dining-room, where her break- 
fast was ready. Refreshed by a night of rest, she 
was more cheerful than she had been for several 
days. ^^r. Larabee unable to conceal his emo- 
tion, left the room. Finally the old lady turned 
to her daughter, and said: 

*Ts there any news yet this morning, Mary?" 

Mrs. Larabee's heart failed. She could not blast 
the hopes, expressed in that voice and exhlbited 
in that dear old face. 

" Eat your breakfast, mother," she said. 

"But I want to hear from my James first," said 
the lovine mother. 

The telegram, that was so soon to bring grief 
and anguish to the hopeful mother, lay on the 



578 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



shelf. Seeing it, she took it, and was about to 
read it, saying ; " Here it is now. I must read it 
before I eat." Her granddaughter, Ellen Larabee, 
fearing that so sudden a shock would be fatal, took 
the dispatch from her hand, and said : 

"I will read it to you, grandma. Are you pre- 
pared for — for — bad news?" 

"Why, no," said grandma; "I am not prepared 
for bad news ; and there isn't any bad news this 
morning, is there?" 

" Yes, grandma." 

"O Nellie, he is not — he cannot be dead?" 

"Grandma, his spirit passed away last night." 

"Oh, It cannot be. It must not be. I cannot 
have it so. I\Iy James, my James dead. No I 
cannot believe you, let me see the dispatch." 

She read it, and fell backwards into a chair, 
moaning and wringing her hands, while the bitter 
tears coursed down her pale checks. The boy, 
who had been the idol of her heart, was dead. 

"To-morrow I will be 80 years old; but I will 
not see the beginning of another year. James has 
ofone ; and I shall not be Ion"- after him." 

But hours of erief have their duties no less than 
hours of joy. Those at the head of the govern- 
ment immediately took steps to see, that its affairs 
continued in the regular way. Before midnight, 
September 19th, Attorney-General MacVeagh 
sent to Vice-President Arthur the following dis- 
patch. Secretaries Blaine and Lincoln being absent: 



THE SUCCESSOR SWOKX IX. ^^^ 

It becomes our painful duty to inform you of the death of 
President Garfield, and to advise you to take tlie oath of of- 
fice as President of the United States without delav. If it 
concurs with your judgment, we will be very glad if you will 
come here on the earliest train to morrow morning. 
William Windom, Thomas L. James, 

Secretary of the Treasury. Postmaster-General. 

W. H. Hunt, Wayne MacVeagh, 

Secretary of the Navy. Attorney-General. 

S. J. KiRKwooD, Secretary of the Interior. 

The Vice-President returned this answer: 

New York, September 19th. 
Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, Atlortiey-Gcjicral, Long 
Branch : I have your telegram, and the intelligence fills me 
with profound sorrow. Express to Mrs. Garfield my deepest 
sympathies. Chester A. Arthur. 

Mr. Arthur then sent messages, requesting 
their presence — in accordance with a dispatch 
from the Cabinet — to the different Judges of the 
Supreme Court in New York. The first to ar- 
rive was Judge Brady, closely followed by Judge 
Donahue. The party, comprising the Vice-Presi- 
dent and the Judges named, District Attorney 
Rollins, Elihu Root and the eldest son of Presi- 
dent Arthur, assembled in the front parlor of Mr. 
Arthur's residence ; and the oath of office was 
then administered. This brief, significant cere- 
mony took place at five minutes after two on the 
morning of September 20th. The country had 
again a President, and the government its consti- 
tutional head. 



58o 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



The next day the autopsy took place. This au- 
topsy is the final official bulletin in this sad history. 
To the corps of doctors, who had been in atten- 
dance on the wounded man, were added for this 
event, Dr. Andrew H. Smith of Elberon, and Act- 
ing Assistant Surgeon D. S. Lamb of the Army 
Medical Museum, at Washington, who made the 
autopsy. The official statement contained the 
following paragraphs, concerning the wound and 
the immediate cause of death : 

It was found that the ball, after fracturing the right eleventh 
rib, had passed through the spinal column in front of the 
spinal canal, fracturing the body of the first lumbar vertebra, 
driving a number of small fragments of bone into the adja- 
cent soft parts and lodging below the pancreas, about two 
inches and a half to the left of the spine, and behind the 
peritoneum, where it had become completely encysted. 

The immediate cause of death was secondary hemorrhage 
from one of the mesenteric arteries adjoining the track of the 
ball, the blood rupturing the peritoneum, and nearly a pint 
escaping into the abdominal cavity. This hemorrhage is be- 
lieved to have been the cause of the severe pain in the lower 
part of the chest, complained of just before death. * * * 

In reviewing the history of the case, in connection with the 
autopsy, it is quite evident that the different suppurating 
surfaces, and especially the fractured spongy tissue of the 
vertebra, furnish a sufficient explanation of the septic condi- 
tion which existed. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 



THE morning of September 20th was as 
lovely, as Long- Branch had ever known. 
Until 7 A. M,, the scene at Elberon was 
one of profound quiet. Only the uniformed 
guards, slowly pacing the grass surrounding the 
Francklyn Cottage, gave signs, that there was life 
about. By 8 o'clock, about five hundred per- 
sons, in holiday attire, had assembled on the grass 
in a long, dense line, close up to the beat of the 
outermost sentries; and the roadway, bordering 
the hotel-grounds, was packed with vehicles. The 
utmost good order prevailed. All faces were sad; 
no loud words were spoken; the grief was too re- 
spectful for demonstration. 

At 8.45 o'clock, a signal was given to allow the 
people to take a last look at the dead face of the 
nation's chief. The casket had been placed upon 
a bier in the centre of the northwest room of the 
cottaee. A soldier stood cruard at each corner. 
The upper half of the coffin-lid had been removed, 
disclosing the head and chest of the President 
only. Two crossed Sago palm leaves lay upon 
the lower half. As the people entered, they di- 
vided and passed by on both sides of the coffin at 
49 (5^0 



r^2 ^-^^-^ ^^^'^ OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

once, going out of a door leading toward the sea. 
For an hour the people passed in and out, with 
occasional breaks in the steady stream. 

At Mrs, Garfield's request, Rev. Charles J. 
Young, of Long Branch, held a short funeral- 
service — the reading of passages from the Scrip- 
tures, followed by a short prayer, impressive and 
:5olemn — an appeal to the Great Creator for 
guidance and help. During the services the 
funeral train backed around the curve of the 
temporary track, until the second of the four cars 
was directly opposite the cottage-balcony. This 
was the one, destined to carry the President's 
body. The seats had been removed; and the 
entire interior, except the windows and the floor, 
had been covered with black cloth. This was re- 
lieved by a cornice, composed of small flags, 
closely festqoned, and of black rosettes. The 
exterior of all the cars was paneled with black 
cloth, plaited toward the centre, and there covered 
with rosettes. The last car was for bae'Gfa.S'e and 
passengers. Next to the funeral car was the one, 
prepared for President Arthur, the members of 
the Cabinet, and their friends. The first car was 
President Roberts' special drawing-room car, in 
which Mrs. Garfield and her household rode to 
Long Branch, and In which she was to return to 
Washington. 

At 9.46 o'clock, the Governor of New Jersey 
and his staff entered the cottage in double file, 



THE START FROM ELBKRO.V. 



58. 



accompanied by several members of the Legisla- 
ture and Congressional Representatives of the 
State. Hardly had they disappeared through the 
rear door, when another procession, also in 
double file, came out of the front door in the op- 
posite direction. Ever}^ head was bared instantly. 
General Swalm led the way. Next came Mrs. 
Garfield, with her arm in that of her son Harry. 
Her long crape veil concealed her features ; but 
she walked with a firm step. Behind her came 
Miss Mollie Garfield and Colonel Rockwell's 
daughter. Colonel and Mrs. Rockwell, Dr. Boyn- 
ton and C. O. Rockwell, and Private Secretary 
Brown and Warren Younof followed. A moment 
later, six undertaker's assistants, slowly carr^'ing 
the coffin, took it into the funeral car, and placed 
it upon a draped dais in the centre. A tall cross 
of yellow and white rosebuds, carnations, tube- 
roses and smilax stood on the carpet, its top rest- 
ing against the head of the casket. A large pil- 
low of similar flowers was laid upon the floor at 
its foot. Four regular soldiers seated themselves 
on euard, one at each corner of the dais. The 
members of the Cabinet and several friends of 
the family entered the third car. A squad of ten 
soldiers and a Corporal of the First Artillery^ 
under command of Lieutenant Patterson, marched 
around the cottage with arms reversed, and took 
seats in the funeral car. About 300 yards to the 
north of Elberon depot, engine No. 658, which 



584 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



had brought the sick President to Long Branch, 
backed up, and was made fast to the train. The 
same employes of the Pennsylvania Railroad, as 
officiated then, were in charge now. At 12.12^ 
p. m., the train started on its melancholy journey 
to the Capital, so different from that memorable 
ride to the sea, when the dying President was 
borne away from the Capital on the hopes and 
prayers of all nations. 

The journey from the Ocean to Washington 
was sombre in the extreme. The drapery of 
mourning was almost everywhere seen. Flags 
were flying at half-mast; and festoons of black 
were hanging from public buildings and private 
dwellings. In sparsely settled districts people 
had gathered in the fields. At Princeton Junc- 
tion the students had covered the iron rails with 
beautiful flowers in great profusion ; and the bells 
were tolling, All along the line the people had 
gathered, to pay their last tribute of respect to 
the dead, and silently offer sympathy to the 
stricken relatives and friends. At Philadelphia, 
the bridges, which span the track, were filled with 
people ; and the banks by the side of the railway 
were thickly covered. All were thoughtful and 
serious-; even the children, under the shadow of 
the nation's loss, stood in silence. As the train 
passed on, the same scenes w^ere repeated. The 
people of the United States had abandoned busi- 
ness and pleasure ; and through their silent ranks ; 



ARRIVAL AT IVASIIhXGl'ON. pO_ 

the dead body of the President passed swifdy to 
the Capital. Upon the platform at the station 
were long lines of army and navy officers, led by 
General Sherman and Rear-Admiral Nichols. The 
station was heavily draped in mourning. In the 
streets around it were thousands of people, and 
the military and civic bodies, which were to form 
part of the escort. The windows of the adjoining 
houses and hotels were filled with spectators. 

At 4.29, the special train slowly entered the de- 
pot. All heads were uncovered, as the heavily 
draped engine and cars rolled in. Then the 
widow of the President, heavily veiled and in deep 
mourning, descended from one of the cars, as- 
sisted by Secretary Blaine, whose pale face and 
heavy eyes betokened the suffering, through which 
he had passed. Supported by him and her son 
Harr}'', the noble woman walked slowly to her 
carriage. These three were followed by the re- 
maining occupants of the funeral train. The coffin 
was taken from the car, and placed upon the 
shoulders of cioht non-commissioned officers of 
the Second Artillery, who bore it slowl)' toward 
the gate. Just before reaching tlie street, they 
halted ; and from the band outside came the 
strains of "Nearer, my God, to Thee," which, 
played widi rare tenderness, brought tears into 
many eyes. When the last note had died away, 
the coffin was placed in the hearse. Following 
the body, came the officers of the army and navy 
49''- 



586 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



to the number of about two hundred, wearing the 
full-dress uniform of their respective ranks, and 
headed by General Sherman and Admiral Nichols. 
These officers formed in ranks of two on each 
side of the hearse, which was drawn by six gray 
horses. Each horse was led by a colored groom; 
and grooms and horses wore the customary mourn- 
ing-trappings. Preceding the hearse, were car- 
riao-es, containincf President Arthur, members of 
the Cabinet, and others, who were close to the late 
President.* Mrs. Garfield, Miss Mollie and Harry, 
entering their own carriage, were driven directly 
to the house of Attorney-General MacVeagh, 
whose guests they remained until they left Wash- 
ington. 

The troops wheeled into column ; the band struck 
up a funeral march ; and the escort moved toward 
the Capitol in the following order: 

Mounted Police, 

General Ayres and staff, 

Colonel Amos Webster and staff, 

Washington Light Infantr)', four companies, Colonel Moore commanding. 

Union Veterans, Captain Thomasson. 

National Rifles, Captain Burnside, 

Washington Light Guard, Lieutenant Hodson, 

Capital City Guards, Captain Keeley, 

Battalion of United States Marines, 

Four companies of Second United States Artillerj', marching as infantry, 

and one light batten,', 

Washington and Columbia Commanderies Knights Templars, and 

other Masonic Societies. 

As the procession moved, down Pennsylvania 
Avenue with draped flags, muffled drums and 



CARRIED TO THE CAPITOL. 



5^7 



solemn music, the thousands of sorrowing spec- 
tators invokmtarlly contrasted the scene with that, 
which was witnessed a Httle more than six months 
previous, when drums were rolled, and colors 
were dipped, in honor of General Oarfield's inau- 
guration as President of the United States, and 
when 15,000 uniformed citizen-soldiers from vari- 
ous States proudly marched in review before him. 
Then the populace, lining the side-walks, mani- 
fested their feelings in glad shouts and enthusi- 
astic cheers; now the same populace stood with 
bowed heads and tearful eyes, as the dead Presi- 
dent was borne to the place, where he had so re- 
cently taken the oath of office. The procession 
moved to the Capitol by the same route that was 
taken by the Inauguration procession, and the ter- 
rible contrast between the two scenes was deeply 
felt by all. 

On arriving at the east front, the troops 
wheeled into line ; and as the hearse and car- 
riages drove up to the main entrance, the custo- 
mary salute was paid. The Senators and Rep- 
resentatives, who were in the city, had assembled, 
and proceeded to the east front of the Capitol to 
receive the body. On its arrival they formed two 
lines with open ranks at the foot of the main stair- 
way. The coffin was borne through the open 
ranks by the eight United States artillerymen to 
the centre of the rgtunda, and placed upon the 
catafalque, which had been prepared to receive it. 



58S 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDEXT GARFIELD. 



This catafalque had been used for Thaddeus 
Stevens, President Lincoln, Senator Sumner, 
Chief-Justice Chase and Vice-President Wilson. 
Covered with heavy, black velvet, it rested on a 
platform about six inches high, and rose about 
three feet above the platform. The resident 
members of the Society of the Army of the Cum- 
berland, with very marked appropriateness, acted 
as a Guard of Honor on this occasion. 

At night the rotunda was opened to the pubHc ; 
and many thousand persons passed in and 
gazed upon the features of the dead Executive. 
All day Thursday, Washington did little else than 
crowd about the Capitol offering the last trib- 
utes of respect to one, whose death had been the 
completed majesty of his life. The line, outside 
the Capitol, was a quarter of a mile long, and 
resembled a huge serpent, with its head on the 
Capitol steps and its tail stretching out beyond the 
long folds of its body to East Capitol Street. The 
line arranged itself in this way to keep within the 
limits of the Capitol grounds. Men, women, and 
children, from almost every walk in life were there, 
and all were sincere mourners. 

The rotunda was heavily draped ; and the 
vast dome, stretching toward heaven, seemed 
in sympathy, so reverently did it echo the tread 
of the people. Floral decorations were scat- 
tered about the coffin, and placed upon the 
floor of the rotunda. On the foot of the coffin 



S£/C I 'ICES A T THE CA P/TOL . rqi 

'-ested an immense wreath of white rosebuds, 
with a card bearing the following inscription : 

Queen Victoria, 

to the memory of the late 

PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

An expression of her sorrow and sympathy witli Mrs. Garfisld 

and the American Nation. 

It was prepared at the British Legation by tele- 
graphic direction of the Queen. One of the 
most beautiful of the decorations was prepared 
at the White House conservatory. It represented 
the "Gates ajar." 

The funeral services were appointed for 3 
o'clock, p. m., Friday, September 23d. At eleven 
o'clock in the morning, the Capitol was closed to 
the public, that proper arrangements might be 
made for the religious ceremonies. Up to the 
hour of closing, the people condnued to pass 
through the rotunda to gaze upon the closed 
coffin. Thoucrh it was known, that the face of the 
dead President was hidden from view, it seemed 
to make no difference to those, who demanded 
permission to approach the remains of the late 
Chief Maofistrate for the last time. A few minutes 
after the closing of the Capitol, there occurred a 
sadly solemn scene. Mrs. Garfield, accompanied 
by her son Harry, her daughter Mollie, Colonel 
and Mrs. Rockwell and daughter. General Swaim, 
and Attorney-General and Mrs. MacW^agh, drove 
NN 



592 



rilE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD 



to the Senate wing- of the Capitol ; and, repairing 
to the President's room, sent for Colonel Bright, 
who was informed that Mrs. Garfield desired to 
look for the last time on the face of her deceased 
husband. Colonel Bright directed that all persons 
should leave ; that the four doors leading to the 
rotunda should be closed ; and that the guard 
should retire, until Mrs. Garfield had performed 
her mission of love. The lid of tlie coffin was 
removed; and Mrs. Garfield entered the rotunda. 
Not a living soul was in the vast, circular room 
except herself She was there, alone, with her 
dead. 

Beneath the vast dome of the nation's hall, all the 
eloquent silence of which spoke in softened tones 
to her broken heart, sat the well-beloved wife. 
And he, whom for twenty-three years she had 
loved, honored and obeyed, spoke no word, gave 
no sign! The ice of death was in his heart. As 
she knelt beside the coffin, the altar of the nation's 
tears, there stole in at one of the great windows 
a ray of sunshine from the world without. God 
grant that it soothed the grief of the noble 
woman ! When she left, she took with her some 
of the blossoms, that surrounded the coffin. At 
exactly 12 o'clock. General Swaim and Colonel 
Rockwell, the two life-long friends, and the faith- 
ful nurses of the late President throughout his 
suffering, repaired to the rotunda, and, closing 
and locking the coffin, ordered, that it should 



AN A UG UST ASSEMBLA GE. rr^^ 

never again be opened. This was clone by direc- 
tion of Mrs. Garfield. She had o-azcd for the last 
time upon his face, and none other was to see it. 
The first organized body to enter the rotunda 
was composed of survivors of the Army of the 
Cumberland, not only those resident in Washing- 
ton, who had been servinof as a o-uard of honor 
to the body since Wednesday, but also a number 
from New York, Philadelphia and other points. 
The Diplomatic Corps in full uniform came next, 
by legations, the Chinese being the first to take 
the seats assigned them. The glittering decora- 
tions of these representatives of foreign nations 
were chastened by crape in every Instance. The 
officers of the army and navy, with crape on arm 
and sword-hilt, came in squads. The Chief Jus- 
tice, accompanied by Justices Miller, Harlan and 
Matthews, in their official robes, with the officers 
of the Supreme Court, followed. Then from the 
south wing came the members of the House of 
Representatives, marshaled by Sergeant-at-Arms 
Thompson. A moment later the Senate, ap- 
proaching from the north wing, with ex- Vice- 
Presidents Hamlin and Wheeler, soberly ap- 
proached their allotted places. They had scarcely 
seated themselves, when the Cabinet entered, 
preceded by ex-Presidents Grant and Hayes, and 
President Arthur on the arm of Secretary Blaine. 
The President and Secretary of State occupied 
seats at the west end of the semi-circle, Imme- 

50 



eg A THE LIFE OF TRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

diately opposite the two ex-Presidents ; while the 
Cabinet with members of their famiUes took seats 
in the front row, between the two extremities. 
The clergymen, who were to conduct the religious 
services, and the Philharmonic Society, who were 
to render the hymns and anthems, were ranged 
about the head of the coffin. 

At precisely 3 o'clock, the beautiful harmony 
of the hymn, "Asleep in Jesus," swelled sofdy 
forth, and filled the rotunda. At the first note 
the guard of honor, twelve in number, who had, 
during all of the subdued busde of filling the hall, 
stood silently about the catafalque, quietly with- 
drew, leaving their comrade to receive the solemn 
offices of the Church, At the conclusion of the 
hymn, Rev. Dr. Rankin read a portion of the 
Scriptures ; Dr.. Isaac Erret, of the Christian 
Church, offered prayers ; Rev. Dr. Power, the 
pastor of the late President, addressed the gath- 
ered mourners ; and the services closed with 
prayer by Rev. Dr. Butler, for many years chap- 
lain of the House of Representatives. 

The many floral tributes, were removed. Only 
the wreath, sent by the Queen, remained upon 
the coffin, which still bore the palm leaves, first 
placed upon it at Elberon. Then the bearers, 
who had won General Garfield's esteem as co- 
worshipers in the little frame church on Vermont 
Avenue, bore out from the Capitol the mortal re- 
mains of die man, who had for so many years 



MOVING IVESTIVARD. 



595 



made Its walls ring with his eloquent and patri- 
otic utterances. The family, intimate friends and 
White House officials followed, and were suc- 
ceeded by the two ex-Presidents, the President 
and the Cabinet, and the Representatives from 
the Supreme Court. Then, by direction of Gen- 
eral Field, the Master of Ceremonies, the Diplo- 
matic Corps passed out. After them the mem- 
bers of the Senate and the House marched slowly 
down the broad steps of the eastern front. 

When the body was borne through the bronze 
doors of the Capitol, the troops, drawn up in line, 
paid the customary honors, the Marine Band play- 
ing "Sweet by and by." The officers of the 
army and navy, who constituted the Guard of' 
Honor, preceded the body, and formed in two 
lines facinor inward. Throuorh these lines of offi- 
cers the coffin was borne and deposited in the 
hearse, the procession following in the order 
named. The troops were wheeled into line : and 
the corteee moved off to funereal music. Slowly 
the march to the station was made. With arms 
reversed and banners wound with crape, the long 
column moved on through solid lines of people, 
standine with uncovered heads. Thus, for the 
last time. President Garfield was borne along 
Pennsylvania Avenue, whose nadonal fame is now 
made additionally interesting, because it is asso- 
ciated with his greatest triumph, assassinadon and 
burial. 



596 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



The trip of the train westward was a memorable 
one. It started from Washington at 5.21 p. m., in 
two sections. The first conveyed the body, the 
Guard of Honor and the intimate friends of the 
late President. In the second were senators, rep- 
resentatives and members of the press. All along 
the route people crowded the sides of the track 
with uncovered heads. Never before had there 
been such national mourning. The manifestadons 
of sympathy for the dead President were very 
marked at every point. All the houses, from a 
mansion to a log-cabin, were draped in mourning. 
At 1.30 p. m., September 24th, the train, bearing 
the remains of the murdered President, arrived at 
Cleveland ; and twenty minutes later the Con- 
gressional train rolled into the depot. The mourn- 
ful journey had been made without accident of any 
kind ; and the pageant had been witnessed by 
more sorrowing cidzens than had ever before 
looked upon a funeral train in this country. For 
a moment after the train had stopped, the silence 
was unbroken. The coffin was gendy moved 
from its resting place, and placed upon the shoul- 
ders of the artillerymen, who bore it along the 
platform and through the lines to the street, where 
the hearse was guarded by the veterans of Gen- 
eral Garfield's old regiment, the Forty-second 
Ohio Volunteers, who wore the clothing of civil 
life. The commanderies of Knights Templars, the 
Cleveland Grays, and other organizations, were 



ARR] VAL IN CLE J 'ELAXD. j. - 

awaiting the movements of the procession. Tlie 
hearse, which was enveloped in crape, was a plain 
but costly one, furnished by local undertakers, 
and drawn by four handsome black horses, cov- 
ered with black robes frino-ed with silver. Each 
horse was led by a colored man, who had per- 
formed the same duty at the obsequies of Presi- 
dent Lincoln. 

After a short delay the start for the centre of 
the city was made. The scene on Euclid Avenue 
was sadly affecting. There are few thoroughfares 
In the world, which rival it in beauty. The broad 
roadway runs for miles between rows of stately 
dwellings, which are surrounded by spacious 
grounds, and shaded by numerous trees. The 
sidewalks and broad porches were filled with 
people. The display of symbols of mourning and 
grief upon the house-fronts was remarkable. 
Some of the larger mansions were almost hidden 
in folds of black. Large portraits of the murdered 
President were frequently exhibited. Flags with 
wide black borders floated at half-mast from many 
a lofty staff. The Avenue, like the business 
streets, had put on mourning garments; and even 
in the outskirts of the city, where the poor live in 
humble dwellings, die signs of grief were uni- 
versal. 

The procession, led by platoons of policemen, 
moved slowly, to the measures of a mournful 
dirge, towards the entrance to the public square. 
50* 



598 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



The streets around the square were blocked 
with people ; but there were very few within the 
inclosure. The pavilion was an imposing struc- 
ture. The floor, upon which the catafalque rested, 
raised above the ground, was approached over an 
inclined plane from the east and the west. The 
pavilion was square ; and the arched openings 
faced the four points of the compass. At the 
apex of the roof was a large gilded globe. The 
columns at the angles of the pavilion were graced 
by minarets of festooned flags ; and from each 
corner hung a large black banner. Draped field- 
pieces were placed a short distance from each 
corner. The facades were ornamented with 
beautiful floral emblems. A large cross of bego- 
nias and ivy, with arms of ferns and begonias, 
bore a heart made of rosebuds. Beneath was an 
anchor of white balsams. A large Bible of white 
balsams lay open, its pages studded with rose- 
buds, carnations and tuberoses. Part of a beau- 
tiful altar-piece consisted of an open book of 
pink and white balsams, and tuberoses, with pale 
yellow buds on the pages. A cross of white 
balsams, asters, roses and carnations towered 
above it. A tiara of balsams and rosebuds lay 
against a green column, over which birds hov- 
ered. Another piece represented a dreary stub- 
ble-field, brown and bare, bearing one garnered 
sheaf, at the foot of which lay a sickle of balsams, 
rosebuds and tuberoses, and the word " Gath- 



THE CATAFALQIE. cqq 

ered" in purple immortelles. A monument of 
white balsams and tuberoses had its base banded 
with pink ; and upon the apex was a dove with 
folded wincrs. A lio^ht-house of balsams, tube- 
roses, begonias and geranium leaves, with a broad 
base of fern leaves and begonias, bore a shield, 
on which in purple immortelles were the words : 
" Garfield — a beacon to posterity.'' In another 
structure the States were represented by columns 
of ivy or smilax, with the name of each in white 
immortelles ; while over all was an arch, which 
bore the words : " Columbia mourns her son." 

. As the head of the procession entered the 
public square, the bell of the First Presbyterian 
Church, near at hand, began to toll. The band, 
continuing ttie dirge, filed in, and stood between 
the arch and the pavilion. The delegates from 
Columbia Commandery entered the pavilion. The 
remaining Templars guarded the space, over which 
the body was to pass. Marshal Henry and the 
local committee came up the inclined plane ; and 
the grooms led the black horses into the public 
square. The Templars presented their swords. 
The band beoan the mournful strains of Pleyel's 
Hymn, playing sofdy and tenderly. Governor 
Foster and his staff took places in the pavilion ; 
and the eight artillerymen took the coffin from the 
hearse, and bore it slowly up the inclined plane to 
the catafalque, upon which they placed it. 

The scene was one to be remembered. There 



5oo ^-^^ ^^^^ OF PRESIDEXT GARFIELD. 

was a deep solemnity about every action and 
every whispered word. The eye, glancing down 
between the lines of Templars and through the 
archway, saw the troops, quietly wheeling and 
preparing to depart. So still was it in the 
presence of the great multitude, which surrounded 
the square, that the rustling of the plants, which 
adorned the pavilion, as the breeze swept by them, 
was plainly heard. The coffin having been de- 
posited in its place, the hearse was taken away. 
The Templars wheeled before the pavilion, and 
prepared to depart. Twelve privates of the 
Cleveland Grays marched to the front of the pa- 
vilion, and, four at a time, took their places around 
the catafalque, allowing no one to enter. The pa- 
vilion and the whole square were illuminated by 
electric lights at night. At the head cf the coffin 
was placed a large portrait of the late President. 
Upon the coffin lay the palm leaves, and the 
WTeath sent by Queen Victoria, which 'had not 
been removed after it was placed on the casket 
in the Capitol. At the head of the coffin lay a 
scroll, bearing the words: 

" Life's race well mn; 
Life's work well done ; 
Life's crown well won; 
Now comes rest." 

A sad Sunday for the fair city of Cleveland was 
September 25th, 1881. In the heart of the city 
lay the dead ruler, still a President in the hearts 



FINAL SERVICES. ^q 



J 



and homes of the people. An endless throng 
paid him the silent homage of respect, streaming 
by his coffin from early morn till late at night. In 
every church the preacher dwelt lovingly on the 
character and glories of the deceased. Every- 
where the masses were busy with the arrange- 
ments for the day following. During the night a 
gentle shower fell upon the shadowed city; and, 
when morning was ushered in, a bright September 
sun shone through the fast-disappearing clouds. 
All night the park was carefully guarded by sol- 
diery ; and, up to the hour of midnight a throng 
was constantly passing In a regular, solemn pro- 
cession, with uncovered heads. Some dissatisfac- 
tion was expressed, when it was known, that the 
crowd would not be admitted to the park during 
the funeral exercises ; but no attempts were made 
to break through the guard. All contentedly 
accepted the poor satisfaction of beholding the 
funeral pageant, as it impressively passed along 
the streets. Each observer felt a personal inter- 
est In him who was borne to the grave. 

Prompdy at 10.30 o'clock the ceremonies at the 
pavilion began. The immediate members of the 
family, and near relatives and friends took seats 
about the coffin. At each corner was stationed 
one of the Cleveland Grays. The committee on 
duty about the pavilion wore heavy crape. Dr. 
J. P. Robinson, President of the ceremonies, an- 
nounced, that the exercises would open with the 



6o4 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



singing of Beethoven's funeral hymn by the 
Cleveland Vocal Society : 

Thou art gone to the grave. 

But we will not deplore thee, 

Though sorrow and darkness encompass the tomb ; 

The Saviour has passed its portals before thee, 

And the lamp of His love is thy light ihro' the gloom. 

Bishop Bedell, of Ohio, then read some appro- 
priate selections from the Scriptures, after which 
Rev. RosS C. Houghton offered prayer Then 
the Vocal Society sang : 

To Thee, O Lord, I yield my spirit, 

Who breaks in love this mortal chain. 
My life I but from Thee inherit; 

And death becomes my chiefest gain. 
In Thee I live; in Thee I die — 
Content, for Thou art ever nigh. 

Hardly had the last note died away, when Rev, 
Isaac Erret of Cincinnati began the reading of 
his text : 

" And the archers shot at King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, 
Have me away, for I am sore wounded. 

" His servants, therefore, took him out of that chariot and put him in 
the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he 
died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his father's. And all 
Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 

" And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the singing men and sing- 
ing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made 
them an ordinance in Israel ; and behold, they are written in the lamen- 
tations. 

" Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness according to that 
which was written in the law of the Lord, 

" And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of 
the kings of Israel and Judah. 

" For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, cloth take away from Jcru- 



FUNERAL SERVICES. 



605 



salem and from Judah the stay and the stafT; the whole stay of bread, and 
the whole stay of water. 

" The mighty man and the man of war, and the prophet, and the ancient. 

"The captain of fifty, and the honorable man and the counsellor, and 
the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. 

" The voice said Cry. And he said, \Miat shall I cry ? 

" All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of tlie 
field. 

"The grass witheretli, the flower fadetli, because the spirit of the Lord 
bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. 

" The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall 
stand forever." 

His eloquent sermon was listened to with 
close and earnest attention. He spoke for forty 
minutes; and, when he closed, a hush for a mo- 
ment hung over the vast audience. Rev. Jabez 
Hall then read General Garfield's favorite hymn, 
which, amid a hushed audience, was beautifully 
sung by the \^ocal Society: 

"Ho, reapers of life's harvest, 

Why stand with rusted blade, 
Until the night draws round thee, 

And day begins to fade ? 
Why stand ye idle, waiting 

For reapers more to come ? 
The golden mom is passing. 

Wliy sit ye idle, dumb? 

" Thrust in your sharpened sickle 

And gather in the grain ; 
The night is fast approaching. 

And soon will come again. 
The Master calls for reapers; 

And shall He call in vain ? 
Shall sheaves lie there, ungathered. 

And waste upon tlic plain ? 



5o6 ^-^-^ ^^^^ ^^ PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

" Mount up the heights of wisdom. 

And crush each error low. 
Keep back no words of knowledge, 

That human hearts should know. 
Be faithful to thy mission 

In service of thy Lord; 
And then a golden chaplet 

Shall be thy just reward." 

At 11.45 o'clock Dr. Charles S. Pomeroy deliv- 
ered the final prayer and benediction. During the 
last ceremonies at the pavilion, 10,000 men in uni- 
form were moving up and down the broad avenues, 
which open from the East into the public square, 
the music of many bands coming faintly to the as- 
sembly about the catafalque. An impressive mo- 
ment of silence and inactivity followed the solemn 
benediction of Rev. Dr. Pomeroy. The remains 
were raised from their resting-place, and, on the 
shoulders of the soldiers, they were borne very 
slowly down the incline. Every eye in the vast 
assemblage followed the black casket, till it was 
placed on the dais, under the sable canopy of 
the funeral car. The lonsf line of carriages be- 
gan to fill; minute guns were fired at Lake View 
Park on the outskirts of the city; and a hundred 
steeples answered with the tolling of their bells. 
The slow measure of "Nearer, my God, to Thee," 
was played by the Marine Band of Washington, as 
the carriages slowly received their complement of 
passengers at the catafalque, and moved away to 
their place in the procession. The file of carriages 
left the public square through the funeral archway 



THE FUNERAL moCESSION. 



609 



on the east, closing the long procession. Column 
after column of troops had wheeled into line on 
Euclid Avenue. The magnificence of the spectacle 
was forgotten in the sombre pageantry of the 
funeral car, the mournful dirges, the slow, mea- 
sured tread of the soldiers, the fluttering of crapes, 
the shrouded banners of the military and civic 
bodies, and the long double line of mourners' car- 
riages. The procession moved slowly, and when 
the advanced guard entered the Lake View Ceme- 
tery, five miles from Cleveland, the end of the 
procession was just leaving Monumental Square in 
Cleveland. 

At 3.30 o'clock, the procession entered the gate- 
way, which, draped in black, bore appropriate in- 
scriptions. On the keystone were the words, 
" Come to Rest ;" on one side were the words, 
"Lay him to rest whom we have learned to love;" 
and on the other, " Lay him to rest whom we have 
learned to trust." A massive cross of evergreens 
hung from the centre of the arch. The Marine 
Band, continuing the mournful strains, which it had 
kept up during the entire march, entered first. 
Then came the City Troop, of Cleveland, the es- 
cort of the President at his Inauguration. Behind 
them came the funeral car, followed by a battalion 
of Knights Templars and the Cleveland Grays. 
The mourners' carriages and those containing the 
Guard of Honor, completed the procession tliat 
entered the grounds. 

51* 



5io THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

Dr. Robinson opened the exercises at the tomb 
by introducing- Rev. J. H. Jones, chaplain of the 
42d Ohio Volunteers, which General Garfield had 
commanded. The Latin ode from Horace, "To 
Arestius Fuscus," was sung by the United Ger- 
man Singing Society. Dr. Robinson then an- 
nounced the late President's favorite hymn, " Ho, 
reapers of Life's Harvest ! " which the German 
vocal societies of Cleveland rendered. The exer- 
cises were closed by President Hinsdale of Hiram 
College, with the following prayer: 

O God, the sad experience of this day teaches us the truth of wnat 
Thou hast told us in Thy word. The grave is the last of this world and 
the end of life. ''Earth to earth; dust to dust; ashes to ashes." But we 
love the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and the power of the 
endless life. Therefore, O God our Father, we look to Thee now for 
Thy greatest blessing. We pray, that the fellowship and the salvation of 
the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 
the Comforter, may be with all wno have been in to-day's great assembly. 
Amen, 



BURIAL OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



Into his tomb on the shores of Lake Erie, 
Lower him tenderly ! Garfield, the Brave ! 

Never in all the long records of story, 

Hath mortal been laid in so honored a grave. 

See ! the cable-bound nations in sympathy bending. 
Over that spot where he finds his last rest ; 

See ! the world weeping, as in sadness and silence, 
Earth opens for him her turf-covered breast. 

Lower him gently ! America's Ruler ! 

Peer of the mightiest sons of our race, 
Lowly of birth, but chosen by millions, 

To hold among princes the lordliest place. 

Lower him gently ! the Soldier, the Statesman, 
Hero of battles, on Field, and in Hall! 

In council most wise, and fearless in action, 
With malice to none — forgiving to all. 

Lower him gently ! the calm, patient Christian, 
Who trusted in God as life ebbed away, 

Who rested on Christ in his weary death-struggle, 
And found Him a Rock, a Refuge, and Stay. 

Lower him gently ! while cannon are thundering — 
The bells of a continent sounding his fame ; 

While labor stands mute, and all the land over, 
Bursts forth from each lip his illustrious name. 

Lower him gently ! while the tears of his nation 
Are mingling with those who loved him so well ; 

While emblems of grief are solemnly waving 
In city and town, on mountain, in dell. 

Lower it gently ! that heroic soul's temple ! 

Shattered, deserted, and ruined it lies! 
Lower it tenderly ! bury it reverently ! 

The soul it enshrined still lives in the skies. 

Philadelphia, September 2.6th, iSSi. J. G. 

(6,., 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 



THE SICKNESS AND NURSING OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD WITH MANY 
INTERESTING INCIDENTS NEVER BEFORE GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC. 



By Miss Dr. C. A. Edson, Chief Nurse. 

I HAD but just returned to my home and re- 
sumed my practice after attending Mrs. Gar- 
field through a severe illness in May and 
June, when on the morning of July 2d, President 
Garfield was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac 
Depot, in Washington, by the cowardly assassin, 
Charles J. Guiteau. 

My brother and sister were at Washington's 
famous market, near the Depot, when the shoot- 
ing occurred, and they immediately drove home to 
bring me the startling news. I started at once to 
go to the President, and met him as he was being 
borne to the White House, and went with him 
there. When he reached his room and saw me 
he greeted me pleasantly, and said : " What will 
this do for Crete ? (a pet name he applied to his 
wife). Will it put her in bed again ? I had 
rather die. Go and send a telegram to her, say- 
ing I am home and as comfortable as possible 
under the circumstances." 

I wrote the dispatch, and he requested me to 
(612) 



RETURN OF MRS. GARFIELD. 



613 



sign my own name to it, giving me the impression 
that he desired Mrs. Garfield to know that I was 
with him. He was perfectly conscious and calm, 
but very much worried about his wife. He would 
ask every few moments : " Have you heard from 
Crete? How does she bear it? Has she 
started yet?" When told she was bearing it 
bravely, he said : " Bless the dear litde woman." 
After the starting was announced, he inquired for 
the time,'and made his own calculations where she 
was, and when she would arrive. His greatest 
anxiety seemed to be for her, though his chances 
for life appeared very few. 

When Mrs. Garfield arrived, the husband and 
wife had a private meeting, characterized by the 
usual calmness, and a half-hour later, when his 
daughter Mollie came with a subdued composure 
and spoke cheerfully, saying: "We are so glad to 
get home and find you as well as you are," he 
looked up with an earnest, pleased expression, 
and said : "You are a brave, darling daughter." 

Some one spoke of the probable result of the 
wound in his presence, and he said promptly: "It 
is my business to be ready for the result, either 
way. I am not afraid to die." And later he said: 
"You may live to know why this is all best." 

Speaking of Guiteau he said : " Why did he do 
it? " as if he was carefully searching for a reason 
that would give some satisfaction : " What have I 
done, that this must come to mc." 



6i4 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



After the first few days of the President's illness, 
Dr. Boynton took my place at his bedside every 
other night, until three o'clock in the morning, at 
which time Colonel Rockwell would relieve him. 
I had been sometime absent from my practice at 
that time, caring for Mrs. Garfield, and felt that I 
ought to return to it, but the patient so earnestly 
desired my presence, that I could not leave him. 
I felt that I not only cared for him in the ordinary 
capacity of a nurse, but that he gained strength 
and vitality from me. He frequently called upon 
me to soothe him to sleep. The quieting influence, 
which I exerted over him, caused him to remark 
to me one day : " Now I know why Crete likes to 
have you with her." During the first few days his 
limbs required a good deal of rubbing and hold- 
ing. By drawing them up, so that the soles 
of his feet would rest upon the bed, and then 
pressing on his knees he would be relieved for a 
little while of the pain. He required constant 
fanning, ice water often, and many little attentions, 
which made it necessary to give him constant care, 
although he was not exacting or complaining, and 
I never heard a groan from him during his whole 
sickness. The anxiety and care was such a strain 
upon my strength as to produce nervous prostra- 
tion, and I lost flesh rapidly for the first few weeks, 
but afterwards supplied the waste by a more 
frequent taking of nourishment. 

He had very little appetite, and seemed to take 



CONCERN FOR MRS. GARFIELD. 



615 



food rather because it was necessary, and he 
thought it would strengthen him, than because he 
really had any craving for it. He generally took 
nourishment in form of liquids which were given 
every two or three hours, but at one time about 
the 15th of August, when he was so low he took 
no nourishment for thirty-six hours except nour- 
ishing injections very carefully given every two 
or three hours, which is a very precarious 
way of sustaining life. He was allowed to talk 
but very little, but would persist in having Mrs. 
Garfield retire early so she would not get sick. 
He was never willing that she should remain up 
at night with him. On the Friday night when he 
was so very low, Mrs. Garfield remained with him 
until after midnight, when he roused up, and rec- 
ognizing her, said : " Why darling, you here ?" 
and she replied : " Are you not willing I should 
sit by you ?" 

*' You know," he said, " I am always glad to 
have you by me, but you must not stay up at 
night, you will get sick." 

He would sometimes speak of himself in the 
third person, asking : " What do the doctors think 
of him now, and what are their conclusions since 
their last consultation ?" Nodcing my surprised 
look at this form of expression, he said one day : 
" You must excuse me, I forget it is myself that is 
most interested." 

When told of the great interest shown all over 



5i5 THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

the country, as well as in all parts of the world, 
he said : " How hard they will make it for me 
by and by." And when he had rallied so there 
was hope that he might sometime resume his 
work again, he said thoughtfully : "One of these 
days when that case (Guiteau's) comes up before 
me for a pardon, what ought I to do about it ?" 
I replied ; " perhaps you may be permitted to talk 
that way, but I doubt whether the people would 
tolerate it." He readily assented to my sugges- 
tion, that Guiteau was a danoferous man to be at 
larofe. He said it seemed strano-e to him that the 
man had been sitting so much in the grounds 
around the White House watching ; following 
him to church and around the streets to get an 
opportunity to shoot him. 

Once he said, " Does it pay to make the effort 
to stay here just for the few years there are at 
most? Why not lie down and be done with it 
and at rest." But usually he was very hopeful 
and in reply to the question as to how he felt 
generally about getting well, replied, " Usually I 
have thought I should, of course, realizing always 
that there is danorer." He seemed determined from 
the first that there should be no failure on his part to 
do all that was required of him in order that success 
might crown the efforts of those striving to save 
him. 

We rolled him across the hall into the front 
chamber thinkinof that he mieht like the chanofe 



LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. 



617 



for a few days but after being there a few hours he 
became tired, and noticing defects in the wall over- 
head which were the more readily distinguished 
when lying down, he requested to be taken back 
to his own chamber again. The house was kept 
very quiet and no one was admitted to the sick 
room except his attendants. 

He several times requested to see Secretary 
Blaine. I said to him one day : If we allow Secre- 
tary Blaine to come in and see you it will be in all 
the papers to-morrow morning, and then several 
others will feel very much hurt if they cannot come 
in and see you, and I assured him that he was very 
differendy situated from an ordinary man. He 
replied, "I should think you folks could manage it, 
to let Blaine come and not have it in the papers." 
And we did at this. time allow him a private inter- 
view with the Secretary which was not published 
or generally known. 

He talked frequently of his mother and the only 
letter he wrote during: his sickness was to her. The 
only other wridng he did was to sign his name. 
He inquired if there were any papers that it was 
necessary he should sign, and asked for a table 
and pencil in order that he might see if he could 
write. When he was evidendy improving he said 
to his dauehter Mollie, who was in the room, " I 
guess your papa will pull through, and you will 
have a papa again," to which she replied, "Oh yes, 
you are going to get well, I know you will." We 
=;2 



5jg THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

lost no opportunity to cheer and encourage him 
although he was a remarkable patient, never com- 
plaining, and never allowing a groan to escape 
him, no matter how great or severe his sufferings. 
He lay upon his back nearly all the time and when 
turned upon the side would soon tire. He was 
never able to raise his head from the pillow from 
the time he was shot until his death, without as- 
sistance. Notwithstanding he had lost so much 
flesh and was so very weak, yet day after day he 
cheerfully went through the monotonous routine 
of the treatment. First about eio-ht o'clock in the 
morning, the wound was dressed and the tempera- 
ture, respiration, and pulse was taken regularly. 
The temperature, respiration, and pulse were 
also taken at 1 2 o'clock noon and 6 o'clock p. m. 
Soon after the dressing of the wound in the morn- 
ing, he was carefully lifted from the bed by six 
men, and the clothinnf, includinof mattress was 
changed. About 1 1 o'clock a. m. he was given 
more substantial nourishment than at any other 
hour. He was sponged frequently, and some 
of the doctors were constantly coming and going 
in order to keep the closest watch over him. His 
best sleep was In the morning after five o'clock. 
It was exceedingly difficult for him to take stimu- 
lants as his stomach would not retain them. I 
would often divert his attention to something 
else until the danger of throwing up his food 
was passed. One day when the bell rang and 



INNUMERABLE A TTENTIONS. 



619 



the whistles blew at 5 o'clock p. m,, the Presi- 
dent said, " How many happy hearts that makes. 
The day's work is done, and they can go home, 
have their dinner, and their evening as their own. 
I know how it feels, I have been there myself; but 
my work is not done, I cannot go to sleep and get 
up rested in the morning, mine is all day and all 
night." 

The nation's patient had no lack for attention 
and care. Every one was ready and anxious to 
do everything possible for him, and no effort was 
spared to promote his comfort or save his life. 

Mr. Crump, the steward at the White House, 
was particularly faithful in his attentions, and was 
with me in attendance upon the President a large 
part of the time, until he was compelled to rest. 

Dr. Boynton and myself were placed in a \xy- 
ing and perhaps peculiar position, for the reason 
that we are both homceopathists. It was especi- 
ally hard for Dr. Boynton to be placed in the 
position he held, as one of the nurses, inasmuch as 
he was an intimate personal friend of the patient's, 
and a double cousin, his own and the patient's 
mother being sisters, and their fathers half-brothers. 

It is not necessary for me to repeat those facts, 
with which the reader of this volume is already 
familiar. In eivino^ this brief outline of a few inci- 
dents, which impressed themselves upon me dur- 
ing the days of suspense and anxiety, while the 
President of this great Republic was lying so seri- 



620 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



ously ill at the White House, I have depended 
entirely upon memory, and have endeavored to 
avoid details, as well as repetition of what others 
have already written. I will only say further, that 
I think the scene on the morning when President 
Garfield left the White House was the saddest I 
ever witnessed. The patient, while he spoke 
cheerfully, had a sad expression of countenance 
which was so unusual for him, but which I do not 
think indicated that he had given up hope, but 
rather that he had realized the danger of the 
situation. At six o'clock in the morning he 
was placed on his stretcher and carried to the 
door, where a wagon, belonging to the Adams 
Express Co., arranged with great care, with spe- 
cial floor and springs, was awaiting him. He was 
carried out of the White House, head first, which 
left him lookine back into the hall. All the atten- 
dants were standing near him. He could not 
speak, even to say good-bye to them ; but he 
simply raised his hand and waved a salute, as 
much as to say good-bye to them all. There were 
tears in every eye, and no doubt many were im- 
pressed, that he was leaving them, never to return. 



TO AMERICA. 



Now the hard fight is done, 

Manfijlly striven, 
And the strong life is gone. 

Asked for of heaven : 
Droop all your banners low, 
Toll the bell sad and slow, 
All that your grief can show 

Let it be given. 

One there is more than all 

Bids you have patience, 
Sends at your sorrow's call 

Sad salutations, 
Comforts your grievous need : 
First-born of England's seed, 
England by fate decreed 

Mother of nations. 

So to the little isle 

Fragrant of heather, 
Where the sweet roses smile 
. 'Mid the wild weather. 
Stretch out a constant hand, 
Linking, by God's command. 
Daughter and Motherland 
Closer together. 

Harold Bouli-dn, 
Oxford, England, 
September igih, i8Si. 

(621) 



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